The challenge facing the international community is that the contemporary global economy has given birth to various forms of economic activity affecting millions of people that is akin to the loss of personal freedom experienced by the early slaves, South African President Thabo Mbeki argued on Friday.
In his regular online column, ANC Today, the president noted the 200th anniversary of the passing by Britain of the Abolition of Slave Trade Act.
Its acceptance by King George III was described by Mbeki as an epoch-making outcome of the historic victory of the African slaves in Haiti — which had risen up against the French and formed the first African independent state in 1804 — “and the relentless solidarity struggle of progressive men and women in England” culminating in 1807.
Mbeki argued however, that slavery had taken on new forms.
He said that he had drawn attention before to the tragedy facing large numbers of Africans who were being driven by dire poverty to risk their lives to reach Europe in search of “even the meanest of jobs, provided these give them the means to avoid death by starvation”.
“This desperate flight from poverty in Africa creates the perfect circumstances for some in Europe to employ Africans [and others from Asia and Latin America], in conditions of disguised slavery,” noted the president.
“Surely the moment will once again come round when the newly enslaved will once more rise up to liberate themselves. Undoubtedly, once again there will be people of conscience within the developed world, who will join the newly enslaved in a concerted and sustained uprising that will, once more, constitute a landmark in the evolution of human society.”
Mbeki said he believed “that it will help us better to contend with the new reality if we consider what Karl Marx meant when he said, ‘All that modern nations have achieved is to disguise slavery at home and import it openly into the New World.’
“In the substance, Marx sought to make the point that, ineluctably, economic systems predicated on private gain would always seek ways to enslave the people who work for others, while accepting that employers might be obliged to pretend that their relationship with their employees was something other than one between a slave and a slave-owner, Mbeki argued.
“Surely this must mean that within the context of our pursuit of the objective of a people-centred society, we must at all times remain vigilant to confront the tendency towards the enslavement of the working people, however disguised.” – I-Net Bridge