2024-04-17
What does it mean to be South African
By Kirtan Bhana - TDS
Renowned South African artist Mmakgabo Mmapula Sebidi (l) with musician and performing artist Anna Masina (r) (photo: TDS)
17 April 2024
The rapid and radical transformation that South Africans have experienced over the past 30 years can be described as a ‘baptism of fire’. The Berlin Wall came down in 1989 signalling the end of the Cold War and ushering in a unipolar world. These global inflection points have had a direct bearing on the current situation in the country and the path of growth, development and progress it is following. In 1990 Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically elected president was released from unlawful incarceration after 27 years.