When times are dark, do not think only about yourself alone but those the word see the as outcasts! Ask yourself what have I done that has an impact to change their lives. Extract of statement by T. Mbeki at ILO congress: Page 1 of 2 I am a public servant It would seem right that I should start by introducing myself. I come from Africa. I am employed. I am certain the job I do qualifies for the description ‘decent work’. Though I would not like to broadcast this matter too loudly, I would say I earn a living wage. However, I owe the position I occupy to a decision taken by millions of our people, the majority of whom are poor. These poor masses elected the ministerial members of our delegation and I into government, in the knowledge that we would ensure that the new democratic order in our country does everything to extricate them out of their miserable condition of poverty and underdevelopment. Many among these masses are unemployed, with no guarantee that they will get a decent job tomorrow. They fall among those about whom the esteemed Director-General of the ILO, Juan Somavia, has written in his outstanding Report, “Working out of Poverty”. As he says, for these fellow Africans, “poverty is a nightmare. It is a vicious circle of poor health, reduced working capacity, low productivity and shortened life expectancy. For (their) families, poverty is a trap. It leads to inadequate schooling, low skills, insecure income, early parenthood, ill health and early death. For (their) societies, poverty is a curse.” These masses expect of us that everyday, and wherever we may be, we should speak out and act against poverty. They expect that we will approach the challenge of poverty eradication honestly, without prevarication, and implement programmes that actually produce results. They have the will to survive, of which Juan Somavia speaks, but need the support and possibilities to move up the ladder of opportunity, for which he calls. They expect that we will address the structural failures, the ineffective economic and social systems, the inadequate political responses, the bankrupt policy imagination and insufficient international support, that are the cause of their poverty, as the Director-General correctly points out. ... At the beginning I said I belong among those who are employed. I am certain that, as an individual, I must also ask myself the question as to what I should do to contribute to the common fight to eradicate poverty. I would not ask this question out of a sense of altruism, and perhaps not even out of a sense of class solidarity. I, who disposes of no wealth and live by the sweat of my brow, will say to myself that it makes no sense that those who are employed today should be unemployed tomorrow. It is an intolerable burden on me that I should live in daily fear of retrenchment. It is equally unjust that my rights as a working person should be threatened, because there is another at the factory gate who is ready to take my place on the factory floor, because he or she is ready to accept lower wages, intolerable working conditions, casualisation of labour, and non-implementation of the standards set by the ILO. BQPage 2 of 2 Having arrived at these positions, I must ask myself the question – what should I do, in my own interest, to end poverty and underdevelopment, to contribute to the realisation of the objective so eloquently advocated by Juan Somavia, “working out of poverty”! ... The poor of the world watch and wait to see what decisions we will take and what programmes we will implement. These are the billions cast out into outer darkness, among whom there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth. They are convinced that collectively, we have the power to do something to change their condition, including putting them on the ladder of opportunity that will lead to the eradication of poverty through decent work, of which the Director-General has written. Perhaps they do not know this, but all of us here do, that the resources exist within the world economy and society to achieve the objective of the eradication of poverty, globally. The question we must all answer is why we are not using these resources to achieve this goal that is of central importance to the poor and unemployed, but also to those of us present here, who represent the tripartite constituency of the ILO. ... I belong among the African masses that, for centuries, have been cast, like the unprofitable servant, into outer darkness, so that some should reap where they have sowed not, and gather where they have not strawed. But these masses are people who, as Juan Somavia has said, have “enormous reserves of courage, ingenuity, persistence and mutual support...who daily demonstrate the resilience and creativity of the human spirit. (They), the working poor are the ultimate entrepreneurs.” For these reasons, these masses have made the statement that whatever the odds, we will undo the curse of the ancients. In time, it will be said, again – ex Africa, semper aliquid novi! ... We must remember that even those cast into the outer darkness, among whom there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, are also capable of speaking. And when they do speak in the end, on all continents, including where we are meeting, they will proclaim – we are the hope of the world, free at last of the curse of the money merchant! My personal prayer is that they would give me an opportunity to introduce myself to them, as you gave me an opportunity to introduce myself to you. At that moment, I would say to them that I did what I could to ensure that no human being anywhere in the world, regardless of nationality, race, colour, gender, age or ability, had to bear the indignity, pain and humiliation of unemployment, hunger and deprivation. I would pray in my heart that they believe me. Excerpts from an address to the International Labour Organisation by President Mbeki, Geneva, 11 June 2003 NB: The best parts of this address have been omitted. Google the full text. BQ
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 09:56:31 +0000
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