Some Kliptown residents say govt has fallen short of Freedom Charter ideals

JOHANNESBURG - Some residents of Kliptown, Soweto, where the Freedom Charter was adopted, said the democratic government had fallen short of achieving the ideas contained in the document.

June 26 marks exactly 70 years since political formations from all racial groups met at the Walter Sisulu Square for a congress of the people and adopted the Freedom Charter.

At the time, the charter would serve as a blueprint for what a democratic South Africa should look like.

READ: Heritage sites associated with Freedom Charter neglected

The dilapidated Walter Sisulu Square overlooks an informal settlement comprising corrugated iron houses.

In the more formal areas of Kliptown, sewage runs across the streets, businesses are boarded up, and waste remains uncollected.

Like most young people in the area, 30-year-old resident Naledi Molemi is unemployed.

ALSO READ: Dilapidated state of Walter Sisulu Square symbolic of the deteriorating state of Kliptown, says resident

"Basically, I think the government is trying, but they are not doing enough. Most of the youth here, they are busy using drugs, and there’s too much unemployment and even the shops here around, the community is not being hired, they rather choose people from outside."

Residents in the area said the ideals contained in the Freedom Charter remain elusive.