| In the early 1950's,
a "radical" group
called the Congress Alliance came together and formed the Congress
of the People. This was an organization in South Africa to fight
for the rights of the people for a new South Africa. They developed
a list of thousands of demands for a new government, among which
were basic freedom rights involving personal rights, housing, work,
security, and equal free education. All these demands were brought
together, and on June 26, 1955 in Kliptown, S.A. the Congress of
the People created the Freedom Charter.  Preparation
for the Charter had provoked a great deal of police interference where
many people were arrested and thrown into jail. Under gun point from
intruders the delegates managed to adopt the Charter clause by clause,
in hopes of freedom.
The existing government thought the Charter signified a communist
act. Most of the leaders were thrown into jail for communist treason.
This Charter was more than a bunch of requests however. It signified
the intense need for change, and in order for any of the demands to
come about, the whole nation of South Africa would have to change.
It calls for a transfer of power from a single social class to the
people, and in order to do this the whole economic and political set-up
of present South Africa needs to be broken. The Charter was their vision
for the Future. It was a call for the same rights as every other people
in every other nation.
Works Cited
" Congress of the People, 1955."
The Freedom Charter
Adopted at the Congress of the People, Kliptown, on 26 June 1955
 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.
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 .
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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:
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