Here starts my Good News series of posts. When I was little and I told my dad I wanted to be a journalist, he would always say that I should break the mould and write only good news, that there was too much bad news already. I'd roll my eyes in that typical pre-teen way, knowing even then that good news doesnt sell. Well, this one's for you, Dad.
There's enough negativity out then, so at least once a month I'm going to post a positive thing about SA. This is not about deny that serious changes need to happen, but rather to be a dissenting voice. I always feel that people choose what is true for them by first listening to the possible views around them, and piecing together their view out of that, in a way that makes sense of the world for them. I'm just adding to the babble.
The below speech really moved me. I was reading this last night, and kept exclaiming "and this is a budget speech? Its so eloquent and moving!"
Extracts from Trevor Manuel's Budget 2007 speech:
We must place at the centre of our daily activities the pursuit of the
goals of social cohesion and human solidarity. We must therefore,
strive to integrate into the national consciousness the value system
contained in the world outlook described as Ubuntu.
We must therefore constantly ask ourselves the question – what is it
in our country that militates against social cohesion and human
solidarity? I believe that none of us present here (tonight) would have
any difficulty in answering this question.
I am therefore certain that we would all agree that to achieve the
social cohesion and human solidarity we seek, we must vigorously
confront the legacy of poverty, racism and sexism. At the same time,
we must persist in our efforts to achieve national reconciliation.
President Mbeki, 4th Nelson Mandela Lecture, July 2006
The foundation of human association is the idea that human life has equal worth
and human beings are equally entitled to political, economic and social rights which
allow them to choose a life they have reason to live1.
Human life has equal worth…
Motho ke motho, ga ana bosehlana (a human being is a human being, there is no lesser human being)
The idea, that human life has equal worth, and that this is the core value that unites
us, invites us to ask whether we have done enough to give practical effect in South
Africa today to our shared humanity. Have we acted in a manner that shows that
human life has equal worth? Or do we still live in a society where the shadow of
history dominates over the opportunities of an open society.
As our young nation enters its thirteenth year, we have much to be proud of. We
are building a society founded on principles of equality, non-racialism and nonsexism.
We have built institutions of democracy, creating an open society founded
on the rule of law. After stabilising the economy and the public finances, we have
created the conditions for rapid economic growth, job creation and broadening of
opportunities.
Sound management of public finances and the improved tax compliance culture on
which it rests provides us with the resources to invest in our public services, renew
our infrastructure, reshape our residential areas, provide water, electricity, housing,
sanitation, schooling, health care and access roads to millions who were previously
denied these elementary building blocks of modern society. The social grant system
has expanded, hunger is in retreat and vulnerable families are being lifted out of
poverty.
Yet the idea that human life has equal worth demands more of us. President
Mbeki’s speech at the 4th Nelson Mandela lecture reminds us that……
to achieve the social cohesion and human solidarity we seek, we must
vigorously confront the legacy of poverty, racism and sexism.
Impilo zabantu zixabisa ngokulinganayo (people’s lives have equal value)
Motho ke motho ga ana bosehlana (a human being is a human being, there is no
lesser human being)
Die lewe van alle mense is gelykwaardig (the lives of all people are equal)
President Mbeki has also advised
What this means is that when we talk of a better life for all,
within the context of a shared sense of national unity and
national reconciliation, we must look beyond the undoubtedly
correct economic objectives our nation has set itself.3
When our forebears formed the African National Congress in 1912, in response to
being excluded from the formation of the Union of South Africa, they were driven by
the single-minded belief…Human life has equal worth.
When Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu tabled the 1949 programme of action to
spur more active resistance to discrimination, they believed that Human life has
equal worth.
In 1955, when our parents came together in Kliptown at the Congress of the
People, to proclaim loudly that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and
white; they were united by the belief that human life has equal worth.
In 1983, when we launched the United Democratic Front in Mitchell’s Plain,
hundreds of community organisations said with one voice: Human life has equal
worth.
In 1994, when we stood in line and voted as equals in our first democratic elections,
we could feel the mood, and the mood said, ‘Human life has equal worth.
When our constitution was unanimously adopted in this house in 1996, our
declaration to the world was loud and clear, human life has equal worth.
And today, we proclaim loudly…human life has equal worth … and we will be
unwavering in our dedication to the social cohesion and human solidarity that we
seek.
1 Will Hutton, The writing on the wall, 2007. P. 204.
3 Fourth Nelson Mandela Lecture
