April 27, 2024, was Freedom Day in South Africa and marked the 30th anniversary of the country’s historic General Elections, in which Black South Africans voted for the first time following the dismantlement of apartheid.
From April 26 – 29, 1994, millions of Black South Africans stood in lines that often stretched for miles to exercise their newly-acquired right to vote. Amid ongoing threats and acts of violence by some factions of White groups opposing the new law of the land, Black voters refused to be intimidated or deterred from voting.
When the votes were ultimately tallied, the African National Congress (ANC) political party, headed by Nelson Mandela, was victorious and garnered 62.6% of the votes, which equaled over 12 million people.
“It was an extraordinary period in South Africa that saw Nelson Mandela become president and begin to lead South Africa to a new era of democracy,” said Detroit-based entrepreneur and educator Prof. James C. Mays, who estimates that he has traveled to South Africa about 30 times since the mid-1990s for business and philanthropic reasons through his companies – Africanize and African Heritage Tours and Travel – both registered in South Africa and the United States. “Mandela continued to guide South Africa from its long stance of injustice into reconciliation and human transformation for all South Africans. There were gains in all areas of life that Black South Africans had never experienced before involving housing, education, and employment.”
Mays said one of his most treasured contributions to help educate Black South Africans was in the mid-1990s when he and his late wife, Dr. Janet L. Mays, launched the two-year South African Book Drive that collected and shipped approximately 200,000 books to libraries and schools in Soweto and other Black townships around Johannesburg, South Africa.
“The books were collected from various sources, including Detroit Public Schools, the Detroit Public Library, various library associations, church groups, and individuals in Detroit, New York, and Chicago,” said Mays, whose twin daughters are the godchildren of South African freedom fighters and African National Congress trailblazers, the late Walter and Albertina Sisulu. “We even organized teachers to go to South Africa to conduct reading workshops and seminars for teachers and students.”
Rev. Jim Holley, a longtime Detroit resident, civil rights advocate, and retired senior pastor of Historic Little Rock Baptist Church, has traveled to South Africa numerous times over the past three decades. According to Holley, he was a delegation member who helped organize Mandela’s historic visit to Detroit and Tiger Stadium on June 28, 1990. Rev. Wendell Anthony, Bishop Edgar Vann, and Mayor Coleman A. Young were key figures in facilitating Mandela’s extraordinary visit to the Motor City.
“Nelson Mandela did an excellent job keeping apartheid dissolved,” said Holley. “Obviously, under his administration, there were advancements. Getting the right to vote was the first phase 30 years ago, but overall progress for many Black South Africans has been at an ebb-and-flow pace, especially financially and economically. Better living conditions, better jobs, and better educational opportunities are areas that Black South Africans must still reach.”
South Africans are looking forward to the upcoming national and provincial elections on May 29, 2024. Political pundits believe these elections will be the most consequential in South Africa since the abolishment of apartheid 30 years ago. The Ramaphosa-led African National Congress is expected to face tough opposition to remain in power. Other political parties expected to mount serious challenges to the ANC include The Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK).
President Cyril Ramaphosa knows there will be severe challenges in the May 29 elections across South Africa but believes his country must rise to the task.
“Just as we cannot deny the progress South Africans have made over the last 30 years, nor should we diminish the severe challenges that we continue to face,” said Ramaphosa. “We have endured times of great difficulty when the strength of our constitutional democracy has been severely tested…It is this Constitution that has guided our collective efforts over the last three decades to fundamentally change our country for the better, and it must stand at the center of the work we do now to build a better life for all South Africans.”
“From generation to generation, there has to be substantial gains for all Black South Africans to reach their full potential,” Holley said. “Generational wealth is critical and must be built and must continue to grow for Black South Africans to flourish.”
Mays agrees.
“There is plenty of room for Black South Africans to advance,” Mays said. “But more has to be done consistently to uplift them in many areas of everyday life in their country. “And everything that Black people here in America want and deserve in the way of empowerment and prosperity, Black South Africans want and deserve the same.”
About Post Author
