The struggle for freedom and democracy was established on the principle of creating a socially cohesive nation. In doing this, we are also consciously aware of the price paid by those who brought us this liberation, lest we forget and repeat the horrors of the past. Our social partners in academia are essential in providing us with a reservoir of institutional memory, while continuously reminding us of the significance of documenting our history for future generations. One such scholar is Elie Wiesel (2006, p. 4), who wrote, “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time!”

We delve into the past because it would be impossible to understand how the present came into being, or to predict the trends of the near future. The assertion made in the quote illustrates the significance of memory in respect of nation-building and social cohesion. People compose or construct their memories using public language and the meanings of culture. In another sense, they compose memories which help them feel relatively comfortable with their lives and which give them a sense of composure. Freedom Park falls into this category. When memorials are coloured with the national agenda, they can cement shared cultural meanings about the past, and foster national pride and social cohesion.

Memory and memorialisation remain important avenues through which people individually and collectively remember and preserve their past, and justify their present positions and aspirations in what has recently been conceptualised as social cohesion and nation building. Our memory of the past is deeply ingrained in how the colonial and apartheid legacy, that negatively impacted our political, social, economic and cultural life, shredded the social fabric and fragmented the body politic, while constructing a racially exclusive society in which only a minority enjoyed full citizenship.

Although the ANC-led government has, since 1994, made substantial progress towards reversing the legacy of apartheid, our country remains increasingly divided along racial lines, and between the wealthy and the poor. Economic inequality, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, landlessness, social or racial divisions and exclusion are realities we live with. In addition, the phenomena of violent crime, gender-based violence and femicide have taken on disturbing proportions.