Are students free? AfriForum Youth Tuks asks on the eve of Freedom Day

AfriForum Youth Tuks today launched a Freedom Campaign at the University of Pretoria by wearing signs hung around their necks challenging the Government on several aspects of freedom, as many young people feel that their freedom has been curbed.

Every year Freedom Day is celebrated on 27 April to commemorate the heroes who fought for a democratic South Africa. Freedom and democracy are inextricably interlinked. According to AfriForum Youth Tuks Freedom Day should be used as a yardstick to rectify mistakes that are still occurring in our 20 year old democracy.

“One cannot deny the many improvements the country has seen since 1994, but we have to wonder how free South Africans truly are. We are subject to racial profiling and discrimination during university admission and bursary allocations. Our right to freedom of movement and association is also curbed by violence and crime, and media freedom is under threat,” Rochelle Oosthuyse, Chair of AfriForum Youth Tuks, said.

AfriForum Youth Tuks has asked several students what freedom means to them on Freedom Day. Most students showed very little awareness of their freedom rights.

The Tuks branch of the youth organisation encourages all students to participate in their project Why am I free?  on 8 May. Students will send balloons into the skies with a freedom message and request tied to it.