Youth Lab Dialogue: “Justice for All? Youth Perspectives on Social Justice”

Youth Lab Dialogue: “Justice for All? Youth Perspectives on Social Justice”

Defining Social Justice:

“Social Justice is a process, not an outcome, which (1) seeks fair (re)distribution of resources, opportunities, and responsibilities; (2) challenges the roots of oppression and injustice; (3) empowers all people to exercise self-determination and realize their full potential; (4) and builds social solidarity and community capacity for collaborative action” –Social Justice Symposium, University of California, Berkley

In South Africa, Social Cohesion has become a buzz word, in 2012. The discourse of unity and integration was taken up by government, through the Department of Arts and Culture’s Social Cohesion Summit.  Upon analysing the idea of social cohesion, the Youth Lab team realised that while social cohesion is an end goal, there would need to be processes that leads us to a more unified nation. In a country with steep inequalities (income, health, educational), a history of institutional racism, high rates of violent crime and a myriad of constitutional questions about cultural and ideological differences.  Various political and union leaders have referred to a ‘socio-economic apartheid’, in which some aspects of South Africa’s social and economic activity is reserved for the rich, and substandard services are reserved for the poor. How then can people experience social cohesion?

We at Youth Lab argue that before social cohesion can be achieved we need to address the basis for social justice in the new South Africa. As such Youth Lab believes that without taking seriously youth experiences of social inclusion and exclusion on the basis of race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and even geography, an important barometer of social justice in contemporary South Africa might be missed.

The Event: Social Justice Dialogue

In a commitment to creating platforms for young people to add their voices to important public conversations, we host the “Justice for All? Youth Perspectives on Social Justice” dialogue. The dialogue will take the form of a plenary debate and smaller group discussions.

Potential discussion points:

·         What are the aspects or layers to social justice (or, conversely, division)? Race, class, gender, ethnicity, language, nationality, etc?

·         Is social justice a by-product of economic development and growth, or does it require its own attendant processes?

·         Is social cohesion, by definition, exclusionary? And, if so, what are the implications and what if anything should be done about it?

·         Who owns the process of social justice (i.e. top-down vs bottom-up vs organic development)?

·         What are the implications of the distinction between the material (e.g. access to basic goods and services such as housing, education and healthcare) and non-material (e.g. freedom of expression) aspects of social cohesion?

The dialogue will take the form of a moderated panel discussion, used to interrogate the idea of Social Justice.

Date: Thursday, 22 November 2012

Time: 18h00 for 18h30 – 21h00

Venue: Mandela Rhodes Hotel, Cape Town

Confirmed Panelists

Politics and Social Justice: COPE President, Honourable Mosiuoa Lekota MP

Education and Social Justice: Equal Education Deputy Secretary-General, Mr Doron Isaacs

Society and Social Justice: Social Justice Coalition Coordinator, Mr Gavin Silber

Please confirm attendance by sending an email to info@youthlab.org.za

President Zuma, we need to discuss a few pressing matters

The 100-year old African National Congress, mulled over a dozen Discussion Documents, during your party’s Policy Conference, which give an idea of the policies that will be adopted by the Government led (I use the term loosely) by you after the 53^rd ANC National Elective Conference in December.

The problem I have is that documents are being attributed to individual senior party officials rather than the collective movement and branches that, with the rest of South Africa, will be directly affected by these documents once they are adopted by the Government in the form of policy.

If the ANC was brutally honest with itself, conference delegates should have rejected all the Discussion Documents and called for the implementation of existing policies which have failed to reach full fruition. ANC officials, both at Luthuli House and at the Union Buildings have stated that Governments problem is not policy but that of implementation.

It is clear that a new leadership is needed to take South Africa forward by implementing policies, which are gathering dust. As you said, Mr President, a “radical shift” is needed.

Analysts, commentators and even some officials in your party have berated, in one way or another, the ‘Second Transition’ Discussion Document. Political analyst Eusebius McKaiser summed it up as being “nonsense” and your lieutenant, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe criticised the “Marxist jargon” used in the document.

If we are to insist on a second transition for South Africa, the transition should pave the way for a modern leader who truly understands the challenges faced by South Africa and a transition towards a change in our electoral system, which allows citizens to hold office bearers directly accountable, post-elections.

Unfortunately, the ANC has, since becoming a governing party, allowed “alien tendencies” to creep in, and in some instances these tendencies have been encouraged, though not explicitly.   It is almost as if corruption, disrespect and suppression of (differing) views have been adopted as accepted practices in Government and the ANC.

Personalities now reign supreme over the collective. When songs were sung in the name of Tambo, Luthuli and Mandela, it was because they represented what the collective ANC envisaged as a leader who held the interests of the movement at heart.

Today, when songs are sung in the name of post-1994 ANC leaders, it is for what that personality can do to better the financial and social status of a faction with sinister motives.

The ANC has turned its back on the principles of 1912 and 1994.

Mr President, I do not think that you are fit to take the ANC and the country to a higher level, which frankly, since 2009 you have not shown that you have the ability to do so.

For the sake of the broader needs of South Africa and the century old ANC, I ask that you do not stand for re-election of the ANC and the Republic, regardless of what the branches ask of you.

Please put the interests of the country above your own, Mr Zuma.  

We Need An Active Citizenry

South Africa is “alive with possibility” but only in so far as all South Africans are willing to work together. We have heard this or similar statements since the fall of apartheid – and we will continue to hear it until it is no longer necessary to remind the people of this wonderful country about the work that needs to be done.  And there is mammoth task ahead of us.

Government has plenty to answer for in the areas where they have failed or not done enough – like in health, education and creating an environment which is conducive to job creation. That said we cannot place the blame squarely on Government, because society is failing itself on many counts – we are content on accepting the small victories.  Democracy has made us lazy! Where is the active citizenry of the pre-1994 era? Granted those were very different times but the need to hold those in power accountable is still necessary.  The need to work towards a better South Africa still needs to be on our minds. We have become complacent.

Given the level of complacency, it was surprising to witness the level of protest against the Protection of State Information Bill (POSIB).  Why can’t we, as an active citizenry, passionately fight against the unacceptable levels of poverty, unemployment, inequality (the “triple threat”) and the poor state of the country’s education system? Why aren’t we angry? These things should keep us up at night.

The longer we sit back and watch, the harder it will become to realise the possibility of a South Africa that we will all be proud of. Where is that fighting spirit that resulted in the democratic elections of 1994? 

Voting is not enough; we need to become active citizens.

A while back a friend said “I want to change this country”.  This should be our nation’s mantra. We should wake up every morning and utter these words with purpose of putting them into action. Together, we need to fight for a better South Africa.

Life may be comfortable for some of us; but as long as the majority of our compatriots struggle, we should never stop fighting the good fight for a better South Africa. We must lobby and pressure Government whenever possible. We must ensure that justice prevails.

The good fight is never an easy one, but it remains a necessary one. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. We should not rest until South Africa is the kind of South Africa we all dream about. We need to work together and for one another.  Let us again become an active citizenry.

I want to change this country.