Adopted at the Congress of the People, Kliptown, on 26 June 1955

We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:

that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people;

that our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality;

that our country will never be prosperous or free until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities;

that only a democratic state, based on the will of all the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief;

And therefore, we, the people of South Africa, black and white together equals, countrymen and brothers adopt this Freedom Charter;

And we pledge ourselves to strive together, sparing neither strength nor courage, until the democratic changes here set out have been won.

The People Shall Govern!

Every man and woman shall have the right to vote for and to stand as a candidate for all bodies which make laws;

All people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country;

The rights of the people shall be the same, regardless of race, colour or sex;

All bodies of minority rule, advisory boards, councils and authorities shall be replaced by democratic organs of self-government .

All National Groups Shall have Equal Rights!

There shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in the courts and in the schools for all national groups and races;

All people shall have equal right to use their own languages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs;

All national groups shall be protected by law against insults to their race and national pride;

The preaching and practice of national, race or colour discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable crime;

All apartheid laws and practices shall be set aside.

The People Shall Share in the Country's Wealth!

The national wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, shall be restored to the people;

The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the Banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole;

All other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the wellbeing of the people;

All people shall have equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions.

The Land Shall be Shared Among Those Who Work It!

Restrictions of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land re-divided amongst those who work it to banish famine and land hunger;

The state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save the soil and assist the tillers;

Freedom of movement shall be guaranteed to all who work on the land;

All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose;

People shall not be robbed of their cattle, and forced labour and farm prisons shall be abolished.

All Shall be Equal Before the Law!

No-one shall be imprisoned, deported or restricted without a fair trial; No-one shall be condemned by the order of any Government official;

The courts shall be representative of all the people;

Imprisonment shall be only for serious crimes against the people, and shall aim at re-education, not vengeance;

The police force and army shall be open to all on an equal basis and shall be the helpers and protectors of the people;

All laws which discriminate on grounds of race, colour or belief shall be repealed.

All Shall Enjoy Equal Human Rights!

The law shall guarantee to all their right to speak, to organise, to meet together, to publish, to preach, to worship and to educate their children;

The privacy of the house from police raids shall be protected by law;

All shall be free to travel without restriction from countryside to town, from province to province, and from South Africa abroad;

Pass Laws, permits and all other laws restricting these freedoms shall be abolished.

There Shall be Work and Security!

All who work shall be free to form trade unions, to elect their officers and to make wage agreements with their employers;

The state shall recognise the right and duty of all to work, and to draw full unemployment benefits;

Men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work;

There shall be a forty-hour working week, a national minimum wage, paid annual leave, and sick leave for all workers, and maternity leave on full pay for all working mothers;

Miners, domestic workers, farm workers and civil servants shall have the same rights as all others who work;

Child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished.

The Doors of Learning and Culture Shall be Opened!

The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life;

All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands;

The aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace;

Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children; Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit;

Adult illiteracy shall be ended by a mass state education plan;

Teachers shall have all the rights of other citizens;

The colour bar in cultural life, in sport and in education shall be abolished.

There Shall be Houses, Security and Comfort!

All people shall have the right to live where they choose, be decently housed, and to bring up their families in comfort and security;

Unused housing space to be made available to the people;

Rent and prices shall be lowered, food plentiful and no-one shall go hungry;

A preventive health scheme shall be run by the state;

Free medical care and hospitalisation shall be provided for all, with special care for mothers and young children;

Slums shall be demolished, and new suburbs built where all have transport, roads, lighting, playing fields, creches and social centres;

The aged, the orphans, the disabled and the sick shall be cared for by the state;

Rest, leisure and recreation shall be the right of all:

Fenced locations and ghettoes shall be abolished, and laws which break up families shall be repealed.

There Shall be Peace and Friendship!

South Africa shall be a fully independent state which respects the rights and sovereignty of all nations;

South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation - not war;

Peace and friendship amongst all our people shall be secured by upholding the equal rights, opportunities and status of all;

The people of the protectorates Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland shall be free to decide for themselves their own future;

The right of all peoples of Africa to independence and self-government shall be recognised, and shall be the basis of close co-operation.

Let all people who love their people and their country now say, as we say here:

THESE FREEDOMS WE WILL FIGHT FOR, SIDE BY SIDE, THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, UNTIL WE HAVE WON OUR LIBERTY

"E´quello che facciamo di cio´che abbiamo, non cio´che ci viene dato, che distingue una persona dall´altra."

Parole di Mandela che mi fanno pensare e che non so per quale motivo mi riportano a solo poche ore fa..e allora chiudo gli occhi e mentre mi abbandono a Morfeo delle immagini fanno capolino....orizzonti senza fine, paesaggi che sembrano dipinti, sconfinate distese di terra protette dolcemente da una smisurata volta del cielo...fanno da cornice a elefanti, zebre, leoni, giraffe, bufali, ghepardi, insetti a non finire, eccetera, eccetera, eccetera...alzarsi prima del sole e mentre la sua luce piano piano si insinua nelle cose andare a vedere come la vita prende piede..cercare, guardare, osservare con attenzione, affinché nulla sfugga, nemmeno i minuscoli e reconditi dettagli..perché lí ogni canto, ogni verso, ogni movimento, ogni richiamo, ogni sguardo, é vita...cibarsi delle descrizioni, delle spiegazioni di persone che é bello ascoltare, anche il tono della loro voce é accogliente...assorbire come spugne ogni loro commento..persone che sembra conoscano a memoria ogni passo di quel cammino, sono cresciuti li´e lo si percepisce. Sembra parlino un linguaggio misterioso con gli animali e mi vien da pensare che quest’ultimi si fidino di loro anche quando si inoltrano in punti vietati..e allora grazie, Moshe, Elson, Ken, Philip..credo sia anche grazie a voi se finalmente ho assaporato Africa. Grazie a quel magico trapasso del giorno alla notte, pieno di colori, di sfumature. Grazie a quel canto intonato dal popolo della foresta durante la notte, quando altri elementi diventano i protagonisti dello scenario..quel canto unisono, melodico e ininterrotto che a motore e fari spenti, nell´oscuritá ti strega. Sarei rimasta li´tutta la notte. Grazie a quelle tre stelle che all’improvviso hanno deciso di cadere da quel cielo stellato come non l’ho mai visto. E sorridendo, mi hanno indicato una strada. Ed ora, ho solo voglia d’Africa, quella vera.

Antony and the Johnsons

E vorrei non esser mai andata via.

E vorrei che tutti Voi foste qui.

E vorrei che coloro che riescono a capirmi con uno sguardo mi abbracciassero adesso.

Io che faccio sempre le valigie.

E prendo e vado.

Io che lungo il mio cammino di gente per cui rimanere in un posto ne ho incontrata e come.

E allora vorrei avervi qui. Perché ho bisogno di voi.

Di voi che non abbiam bisogno di parole.

Di voi, che posso essere me stessa.

Di voi che, ci sono lacrime che dovrebbero essere versate.

Di voi che, non indietreggiate dopo un eccesso di carattere.

Di voi che, mi conoscete e sapete.

Di voi che, quanto mi mancate.

Non si lascia gente lungo il cammino, si aggiunge gente lungo il cammino, ma quanto é difficile.

Io vado, lasciando aperta una serie di parentesi per i pensieri segreti che mi accompagnano.

Gridare.

E Allora Vorrei Gridare.

Perdermi Nell’ Oceano.

E gridare.

E Incontrarti li, nei fondali, tra le pieghe del tempo e dello spazio.

Riemergere e respirare a pieni polmoni.

A pieni polmoni.

Forse adesso, puoi.

Un incontro di menti, l’amicizia. La nostra.

Hai fatto capolino ieri, mi hai sussurrato di rimettere la fascia. Incredibile.

So che sei stata tu.

So che quelle immagini le vedrai.

Mi parli e ti ascolto.

E allora questo é il tuo post.

Quando le ragioni son forti come visoni, dirle é quasi disperderle.

Grazie, perché non c’é distanza che separa un’amicizia.

Per la ricetta della pasta con le noci,

per tutti gli scambi culturali, per la forza che mi hai sempre trasmesso, per quello sguardo pieno di vita, perché sei tu.

Grazie.

A presto. Quando torno ti preparo una ricetta sud africana. Promesso.

Solo

agli

sguardi

é concesso

disperdersi

nell’aria.

Looking out the door I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water
And maybe Im too young to keep good love from going wrong
But tonight youre on my mind so you never know

When Im broken down and hungry for your love with no way to feed it
Where are you tonight, child you know how much I need it
Too young to hold on and too old to just break free and run

Sometimes a man gets carried away, when he feels like he should be having his fun
And much too blind to see the damage hes done
Sometimes a man must awake to find that really, he has no-one

So Ill wait for you... and Ill burn
Will I ever see your sweet return
Oh will I ever learn

Oh lover, you shouldve come over
cause its not too late

Lonely is the room, the bed is made, the open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep that will never come

Its never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
Its never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her
Its never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
Its never over, shes the tear that hangs inside my soul forever

Well maybe Im just too young
To keep good love from going wrong

Oh... lover, you shouldve come over
cause its not too late

Well I feel too young to hold on
And Im much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind to see the damage Ive done
Sweet lover, you shouldve come over
Oh, love well Im waiting for you

Lover, you shouldve come over
cause its not too late

"The Demand of the Women of South Africa for the Withdrawal of Passes for Women and the Repeal of the Pass Laws,"

Petition presented to the Prime Minister, Pretoria, 9 August 1956¹

We, the women of South Africa, have come here today. We represent and we speak on behalf of hundreds of thousands of women who could not be with us. But all over the country, at this moment, women are watching and thinking of us. Their hearts are with us.

We are women from every part of South Africa. We are women of every race, we come from the cities and the towns, from the reserves and the villages. We come as women united in our purpose to save the African women from the degradation of passes.

For hundreds of years the African people have suffered under the most bitter law of all - the pass law which has brought untold suffering to every African family.

Raids, arrests, loss of pay, long hours at the pass office, weeks in the cells awaiting trial, forced farm labour - this is what the pass laws have brought to African men. Punishment and misery - not for a crime, but for the lack of a pass.

We African women know too well the effect of this law upon our homes, our children. We, who are not African women, know how our sisters suffer.

Your Government proclaims aloud at home and abroad that the pass laws have been abolished, but we women know this is not true, for our husbands, our brothers? our sons are still being arrested, thousands every day, under these very pass laws. It is only the name that has changed. The ’’reference book" and the pass are one.

In March 1952, your Minister of Native Affairs denied in Parliament that a law would be introduced which would force African women to carry passes. But in 1956 your Government is attempting to force passes upon the African women, and we are here today to protest against this insult to all women. For to us an insult to African women is an insult to all women.

We want to tell you what the pass would mean to an African woman, and we want you to know that whether you call it a reference book, an identity book, or by any other disguising name, to us it is a PASS . And it means just this:-

• That homes will be broken up when women are arrested underpass laws
• That children will be left uncared for, helpless, and mothers will be torn from their babies for failure to produce a pass
• That women and young girls will be exposed to humiliation and degradation at the hands of pass-searching policemen
• That women will lose their right to move freely from one place to another.

In the name of women of South Africa, we say to you, each one of us, African, European, Indian, Coloured, that we are opposed to the pass system.

We voters and voteless, call upon your Government not to issue passes to African women.

We shall not rest until ALL pass laws and all forms of permits restricting our freedom have been abolished.

We shall not rest until we have won for our children their fundamental rights of freedom, justice, and security.

^1. In 1955 the then Minister of Native Affairs stated "African women will be issued with passes as from January 1956". The law had been amended in 1950 to enable the government to introduce passes for women. Up until then only African men had been obliged to carry passes.

A women’s anti-pass movement immediately began to grow. The first big protest against the pass laws took place in October 1955. Protests grew all over the country and culminated in a mass demonstration at the Union Buildings, Pretoria, on 9 August 1956 - the day that has since be designated as "Women’s Day" in South Africa.

Hundreds of thousands of signatures on petition forms such as the above were deposited at the office of the Prime Minister who, of course, was not available to receive them.

"...e il cuore impazzí

e ora no

non ricordo

da quale orizzonte

sfummasse la luce.."