Freedom Charter of South Africa

Audience

The Freedom Charter begins with the words “We, the people of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know.” It therefore claims to represent the views of the people of the country and to be addressed to all the people of South Africa and to the wider world, for those who drew it up recognized that in the struggle against apartheid it would be vital to win support from the outside world. Such support could be won, they thought, because of the recognition of no racial distinctions that lay at the heart of the charter and because it appealed to universal values. Those who drew up the Freedom Charter intended it to circulate widely in South Africa and to serve as a rallying cry for people struggling against apartheid and working for a different society. One can understand the appeal of the Freedom Charter to those who enjoyed none of the rights and freedoms it proclaimed. That its goals are expressed in simple and direct language made it accessible to almost all and increased its appeal. Its drafters hoped that it would be the central document around which different antiapartheid organizations would be able to unite. The Freedom Charter includes a pledge “to strive together, sparing neither strength nor courage, until the democratic changes here set out have been won.”