How Free Are You? Reclaiming Financial Independence with Nedbank On Freedom Day 2025, while the nation reflected on its long walk to political freedom, one campaign asked a much deeper, more personal question: “How free are you, really?” Launched by Nedbank, this bold new initiative shines a light on a form of control many South Africans, especially women, face in silence — financial abuse. It’s an invisible form of gender-based violence that doesn’t leave bruises but can trap people in toxic relationships, limit their choices, and strip them of true independence.