Freedom Isn’t Free: The Freedom Charter Today – documentary film review
By Carilee Osborne
First published in Amandla magazine
In the year of the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, Martin Jansen’s Freedom isn’t Free: The Freedom Charter Today couldn’t be more relevant. It comes at a time when many South Africans are questioning not only the legacy of their famous founding father and the party that he represented, but also that of the transition more broadly. Despite this, Mandela is barely present in the film. Jansen chooses rather to focus on a diverse range of voices to tell the history and contemporary resonance of the Freedom Charter.
Communist Party of Swaziland: All Power to the teachers, students protesting Mswati’s crisis-ridden rule
The Communist Party of Swaziland fully supports the protest march to the US embassy demanding that the autocrat Mswati be returned from the US, where he is currently at the UN, to face the music in his crisis-ridden country.
The protest is being led by the teachers’ union SNAT and has been joined by students and others.
Swaziland is in meltdown. It is increasingly clear that the regime cannot hold onto power indefinitely. Its grip is already slipping. More and more workers are ready to act against the autocracy and to make it unworkable.