Njongonkulu Ndungane: UBUNTU
A cardinal value to be cherished by all is the sanctity of life. This entails creating conditions that enable people to enjoy a fully human life. As God’s stewards we are responsible for harnessing the resources of the earth to enhance humanity’s well-being. It is in this light that we must engage in eradicating poverty.
We are in the second year of the United Nations’s Decade for the Eradication of Poverty. The faces of poverty are many: lack of income, the loss of human dignity, new human suffering and the denial of access to opportunities for advancement. Poverty is found in those whom progress has pushed to the periphery.
That is particularly telling in a world in which there are huge material and natural resources, as well as dramatic technological advancement.
Poverty brings with it a retardation of knowledge. It has a selfish side, preventing humanity from sharing in the increasing wealth of technological information.
Many organisations use their energies to combat poverty. In South Africa, a coalition of organisations has signed a Declaration of War on Poverty. This includes churches, NGOs, the government, labour, the UN and, significantly, the homeless.
The declaration says: “The war on poverty and inequality is South Africa’s most important priority and our greatest challenge. Eradicating poverty is essential to consolidate the gains of our new democracy. It is a precondition for social justice, peace and security.”
Necessary steps include finding solutions to unemployment and landlessness, increasing access to credit for the poor and encouraging small-scale production and entrepreneurship in the formal and informal sectors.
The lot of the working poor and the gap between high earners and low-paid workers needs addressing. Children in situations of poverty, those with disabilities, the elderly and other vulnerable groups need special attention.
At a different level, the South African Constitution encourages the “full enjoyment of human rights”. The Bill of Rights makes provision for traditional civil and political rights like the right to equality, human dignity, freedom of association and expression as well as political rights.
But our Constitution is unique in the world in its specific references to the rights of access to housing, health care, food, water and social security, to an environment that is not harmful; to health and well-being and the right to basic education. These are fundamental and must never be viewed as secondary rights. They are an integral part of human rights that must be applied to everyone and protected by all.
Poverty is too big an issue to be tackled by a divided community. We require the participation of all to ensure its eradication.
That is why the poverty hearings are of significant importance. Co-ordinated by the South African NGO Coalition, and supported by churches, labour, the commission on gender equality and the human rights commission, they provide the opportunity for ordinary people to share their experience of poverty.
The organisers have put in place a number of different ways in which they can communicate with the commissioners. These include making oral submissions on tape, appearing before the commissioners themselves, or phoning a toll-free line.
A report on the hearings will be presented to, among others, a national summit on poverty which will involve decision-makers in all sectors of life in the country.
The aim of the summit is the determination of attainable, measurable and sustainable strategies for the eradication of poverty within a generation.
We believe that this is possible. We must bring renewal and hope in the form of economic justice and political freedom, within an environmentally sustainable framework.
Only in this way will we see the emergence of communities and societies in which the worth of every person and culture is recognised, learned from, built on and developed.
A new morality that focuses on the well-being of communities is a prerequisite for this age. A dynamic work ethic is needed. That will ensure the creation and perpetuation of creative partnerships of equality, underlining our interdependence in a changing world.