Overview
    Identifiers
    Alternate Site Codes
    DC29/NAMM/0007
    Inventory Number
    2627BD65
    Site Name
    Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication (previously Freedom Square), Kliptown, Soweto
    Record Administration
    Author
    Boitumelo.Mokgosi
    Last modified
    Thursday, May 2, 2024 - 18:49
    Monuments & Memorials Recordings
    Identifiers
    Inventory Reference
    Recording date
    Recorders
    Primary?
    On
    Site Recording Admin Comments
    At this site the freedom Charter was presented to the nation at the Congress of the people for the first time on 26 June 1955. The inscription are pushily erasedModerators Comment :The record requires additional  information and review in the areas belowPurpose:Site History:Date Unveiled: June 2005
    Classifications
    Description

    To comemorate a site where, on 26 June 1955 the Congress of People met to draw up the Freedom Charter.

    Contains Animal figures?
    No
    Contains Human figures?
    Yes
    Builder
    Designer
    Construction Date Comment
    June 2003
    Construction Materials
    Concrete
    steel
    Pedestal Material
    Concrete
    Person/Institution Commemorated
    Event Commemorated
    Drafting of freedom Charter
    Unveiled Comment
    Former President Thabo Mbeki
    June 2005
    Inscriptions
    The people shall govern, all national groups shall have equal rights, the people shall share in the country's wealth, the land shall be shared among those who work it and all shall be equal before the law, all shall enjoy equal human rights, there shall be work and security, the doors of learning and of culture shall be opened, there shall be houses, security and comfort, there shall be peace and friendship.
      Location
      Location
      Mapping
      -26.277873, 27.889094
      Gauteng
      • City of Johannesburg
      Directions to Site
      King Shaka Street, inside King Shaka Heritage Center, opposite KwaDukuza Museum
      Access details
      Accessible Public
      Grading
      Grading
      Grade I
      Grading Date
      GradingComment

      Grading by: South African Heritage Resources Agency

      Declaration
      DeclarationName
      Declaration Type
      Declaration Description

      As the site of the 1955 Congress of the People, the Walter Sisulu Square represents the mostrepresentative gathering in the history of South Africa and the democratic approach taken indocumenting the vision of ordinary South Africans. The process of drafting the FreedomCharter was the first time in South African history where all South Africans were given anopportunity to voice their dreams and hopes for a future democratic South Africa, irrespectiveof race, colour, education, language, sex, personal beliefs and organisational affiliation.This process culminated on 25th and 26th June 1955, at the Congress of the People on adusty field that is now the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication, to adopt the Freedom Charter.The Freedom Charter further, gave the liberation movement a uniform and coherent vision fora future South Africa and became the basis of the movement. The Constitution of the newpost-apartheid democratic South Africa is based on the demands and rights reflected in theFreedom Charter and encapsulates its vision as a goal for a fully integrated and inclusiveSouth African nation.

      Gazette Date
      Gazette Number
      42849
      Gazette Notice Status
      Notice Date
      Notice Number
      1494
      Declared by (Organisation/Heritage Authority)
      Diagram Number
      3944/2005
      Media
      Images uploaded directly to Site
      Images uploaded to linked Site Recordings