Celebration

Now, him and me always have some light amusing conversations, and the young fellow is always never shy to express himself and has an inquisitive brain. I have realized how much he’s using his calculated engagements with, especially adults, to absorb every little wisdom and knowledge. He is witty, sharp minded and jolly and anyone not falling for his charm is surely a coldhearted in-human being.

Often our conversations go like (Him‘Ola grootman, o grand ke kopa o ngaye ponto’. Me: ‘Ola ntwanas, ke sharp wena….eintlik o etsang ka diponto tse baaie so’? Him: Hahahaha kea saver, akere nou ke batla go baaie bo di bhathu le ntho tse mnate so that le nna ke be mnate. And weere wa tseba ka baisa, so kea stocka and then e salang ke ya e saver).

Now back to the questions I tell him what human rights is as explained in the South African constitution -and what it says about his and my basic equal human rights as fellow human beings, whether he is young or I am older.

I tell him that there’s atleast about 15 basic human rights and all this are guaranteed in our South African Constitution, something that never existed before the 1994 democratic elections. Before then, people were treated differently according to their race, colour, gender, and age among others. He was surprised to learn that there’s a list of 15 things he felt he didn’t know, “Worriedly he wonders loudly –“Eesishh, how come I don’t know these because ‘nna wa tseba’, ke batla ho tseba everything”?

I assure him that even a lot of adults don’t know this and that’s why he will never overhear them talk about it. They just know that there’s democracy, freedom and rights but don’t know what is being said there.

I tell him that in the democratic South Africa there’s among others, the rights to: Equality; Human dignity; Life; Education; Healthcare, food, water and social security; Housing; Political Freedom and Security; Privacy; Freedom of expression; Freedom of Association; Citizenship and more.

I could see he was wondering how, when, where are these rights as we go by on a daily basis. I asked if he knew about the free healthcare in clinics, free education; social grants; free housing (RDPs); and the fact that he can express himself freely and go onto criticize government.

I tell him that even though these rights are guaranteed, there’s also a limitation on the rights so that you don’t trample those (rights) of others. You can’t insult, lie or attack people because ‘wena’ you have freedom of expression. I tell him ‘di rights ha se tsa gago’ alone, but they are for everyone and therefore we need to balance these.

I also told him about how even the corruption that continues to happen today worsens the situation for many by denying them their basic human rights because the money that is supposed to give people healthcare, houses, free education and more s being stolen. Indeed President Cyril Ramaphosa is correct In saying there’s a need to bring efficiency Local Government because ‘failure to consistently provide adequate services is a human rights issue’.

By Anonymous

The Gauteng Human Rights Music Festival held in Sharpeville on Saturday, 25 March 2023 brought down the curtain on the last weekend of the Human Rights Month.

A total of 8 bands took to the stage headlined by the legendary McCoy Mrubata, who took revelers down memory lane with his iconic music.

For the past 10 years the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation has been hosting this special music festival which also gives opportunities to Gauteng based emerging artists to showcase their talent and support their livelihood. Since the inaugural festival in 2013, over 70 different bands have been featured and this is thanks to the Puisano Live Music programme which identifies the best unsigned bands through regional auditions. The selected bands are contracted for a year to perform at various government led events when required.