TRANSCRIPT:
It's been 30 years since the end of a brutal system of racial discrimination in South Africa known as apartheid.
This singing and dancing is to mark Freedom Day, an annual commemoration of the 1994 April elections that officially ended apartheid and saw Nelson Mandela appointed as the nation's first black president, in a landslide victory for the African National Congress party, or A-N-C.
South Africa's current president Cyril Ramaphosa has led Freedom Day celebrations in Pretoria.
"Our shackles had been cast off, the shackles that had tied us down for hundreds of years. The weight of centuries of oppression was no longer holding us down, even though our backs bore scars of the cruel lashes of those who had whipped and subjected us for more than 300 years. On that day, as a united people, we stood tall as South Africans."
The A-N-C has been in power ever since that first democratic, all-race election.
But in the background of this Freedom Day, there are rumblings of discontent.
Analysts and polls say the party once led by Nelson Mandela is waning in popularity and is likely to lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in elections that are due to be held in May.
After apartheid fell, a Constitution was adopted guaranteeing the rights of all South Africans no matter their race, religion, gender or sexuality.
But that hasn't significantly improved the lives of millions, with South Africa's black majority - making up more than 80 percent of the population of 62 million - still overwhelmingly affected by severe poverty.
The official unemployment rate is 32 percent, and many are reliant on welfare.
These South Africans have told Al Jazeera there are other issues too: concerns about corruption, poor water quality, and frequent electricity shortages in parts of the country.
"VOXXIE 1: "I was so excited about the coming government."
Reporter: "But do you think enough progress has been made?"
VOXXIE 1: "I don't see any, I don't see anything."
VOXXIE 2: "We ask the government to take pity on us because we're suffering with the water."
Reporter: "Don't you think that by now they should be fixing these problems?"
VOXXIE 3: "I think so, but the problem with our government is that financial stability in this country is very low. With finances, I don't think our government is ready for whatever they're doing. I think whatever they're doing benefits them."
The A-N-C is increasingly being blamed for these problems.
But speaking at the Freedom Day celebrations in Pretoria, South African actor Clement Maosa spoke has said things are still different to the way they used to be, when apartheid laws controlled where they lived, where they were allowed to go on any given day, and what jobs they could have.
"We know that we have got a lot that we still have to, you know, to sort out. But today let's just take this moment and celebrate this freedom because we know that if it was not for freedom, I wouldn't be allowed to be known like you guys know me. I would not be on TV for so long."
Cyril Ramaphosa remains optimistic that these problems can be overcome.
"Our people confront every day the apartheid legacy of unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment. Despite great progress, many households do not have electricity or clean water. At times, it seems that these challenges threaten to undermine the achievements that we've made over the last 30 years. And yet we know if we harness the same spirit of unity that we did in 1994, we will surely overcome these challenges that confront us."
