From one long weekend to another, we seem to be on a roll. The Easter long weekend came with various moments of reflection, including the sad news of Pope Francis’ death.

This Freedom Day long weekend presents us with yet another opportunity to reflect on the 31 years of our democracy. It was a short but eventful week. We made it to the other side at a very big cost.

The passing of Pope Francis

The world learned about the passing of the 266^th pope of the Roman Catholic Church last Sunday. Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergolio, was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign head of the Vatican City state from 2013 until his death.

Joburgers in the Catholic community expressed their gratitude and shared lessons from the late pope. Many noted his humility. They also remarked on his strides for the inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community. He was laid to rest on 26 April 2025 in Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

The Pope’s legacy is clearly one that will be alive for generations to come.

“Pope Francis exhorted people to set aside the futility of war and to always care for those who bear the worst brunt of war, particularly the children,” Kathy Kelly wrote about the late Pope. May the teachings of the Pope remain with the living in the Catholic community and beyond. One day, we will be free from war, cruelty, like how the Pope wished.

VAT reversal

The coin flipped this week as we learned about the reversal of the VAT increase, which has now been gazetted. On 24 April, Treasury released a statement announcing the reversal of the contentious 0.5% VAT hike.

“The decision to forgo the increase follows extensive consultations with political parties, and careful consideration of the recommendations of the parliamentary committees,” the statement read.

While Joburgers and the rest of South Africans expressed their relief about this, political parties scrambled for victory.

“Today is a cause for celebration because it is the clearest indication yet of what it means to enable a party like the Democratic Alliance, fighting for the people of South Africa, to have the balance of power in the national Parliament,” said DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille.

ActionSA also claimed victory under the banner “We saved South Africa,” while BOSA and PA sang the same hymn.

The VAT reversal is a big spanner in the GNU works because there are so many questions lurking. Will the DA walk? Will the ANC bring in new partners into the GNU, forcing the GNU out? Should Joburgers and the rest of South Africa anticipate a cabinet reshuffle? How fast can we expect President Ramaphosa to act? At this point, the ‘U’ in GNU is on mute, but the drama is in full swing. With the current global positioning Mzansi has, instability is the last thing our country needs. When will we, as citizens, be free of the drama in the GNU?

31 years of democracy

Today marks 31 years of South Africa’s democracy. Whether it has worked for us or not is a question we try to answer daily. While there are notable milestones that have been made over the decades, there has been much regression. Regression in the moral conscience of our society. Ailing state entities. A justice system that repeatedly delays justice. The list is long and endless, yet we continue to persevere.

Somewhere deep in our hearts, we hold on to the hope that things will get better. We hope for safer streets. We hope that children will freely play at school and in the streets. We hope that creatives will be duly compensated, and so much more.

As we reflect on our freedom as a country, let us be reminded that our silence is not golden, and bad things happen when good people keep quiet. Therefore, sitting on the fence on any issue at this moment is not going to help us build a better nation. Dear Joburger, when will we be free?