This year South Africa commemorates many significant anniversaries and in this edition we focus on the 50th Anniversary of the Potato Boycott, which drew attention to the repressive working and living conditions of farm labourers. Satyagraha also pays tribute to freedom fighter Chris Hani, a stalwart of the South African liberation struggle. This year we observe his 15th assassination anniversary.
In this edition we look the growing impact of climate change on our health. We need to remember that climate change can be prevented, and this we can do by choosing sustainable development paths that can assist with the effects of adverse climate change. As we commemorate World Health Day in April, we need to be mindful of the responsibilities that each of us have in protecting humanity against disasters brought about by climate change. We need to work together to ensure environmental sustainability of our planet, Earth.
We also feature an article on religious leaders who are working on initiatives that place women and girls at the center of the fight against global poverty and we publish the winning essay of the Essay Competition that was held in March. Here we are exposed to the views our future generation and their suggestions about creating a truly democratic country.
While April is a month when we commemorate Freedom Day we must remember the journey that took us away from the past of a deeply divided society characterized by strife, conflict and injustice towards a future of democracy, peaceful co-existence and prosperity. This day provides us with an opportunity to see how far we have travelled on the road towards nation building and social development. As South Africans we need to work towards promoting reconciliation, fostering non-racialism and improving the lives of our people. At the same time we need to acknowledge that much still needs to be done in order to reach the goals of freedom from hunger, freedom from deprivation, freedom from ignorance, freedom from suppression and freedom from fear. Gandhi said “Freedom means responsibility rather than rights” – we need to emulate these words.