The South African Communist Party has called on the country’s major financial institutions to stop discriminating against workers living with HIV/Aids and the poor.
Kaizer Mohau, spokesperson for the party, said the question that needs to be asked on Human Rights Day on Monday is: ”How far have we come, in 50 years, to realise the aspirations expressed in the clauses of the Freedom Charter?”
The SACP has championed a campaign to transform the financial sector, including banks, insurance companies and medical schemes, for access to financial services for the poor and the working class.
”We commit ourselves to redoubling our efforts in our struggle to transform the financial sector and end all forms of discrimination, including against people living with HIV and Aids,” said Mohau. ”We believe that access to affordable financial products is a basic human right.”
The party said in a statement it has also played a critical role in leading communities across the country in the struggle for access to land, something the party considers to be another basic human right.
”Human Rights Day is of critical importance to all South Africans,” said Mohau. ”We need to remember the struggles waged by communities against the unjust and cruel system of apartheid.
”It is largely because of these struggles waged by ordinary, working-class people that we today enjoy the fruits of democracy, with one of the most progressive constitutions in the world.”
The SACP paid tribute to the thousands of people who contributed to the conception and adoption of the Freedom Charter — 50 years ago in Kliptown.
The charter contains a number of human rights aspirations, many of which are contained in South Africa’s Constitution and Bill of Rights. — Sapa