Towards an Inclusive Society

Lebohang Pheko (pic courtesy Diakonia Council of Churches)

Lebohang Pheko, Policy and Advocacy Director at the Trade Collective, has said the majority of South Africans feel as if they are exiles in their own country, and as such the talk of the nation as an inclusive society is a myth.

She was addressing participants at a lunch time briefing on Towards an Inclusive Society, at Diakonia Centre on 22 July.

Pheko said South Africa is the most unequal society in the world with glaring riches living side by side with utter poverty. Because of this, she said, the majority of citizens are living at the periphery of decision making.

"Most South Africans feel uninvited to the table. This is because the society was built on legislated social exclusivity of our apartheid past", she said.

This exclusion, she said, did not end with the fall of apartheid. Rather, it has continued to haunt the rainbow nation.

"There is disequilibrium at every level - age, sex, race, education, generation and nationality. The frustrations and tensions that we witness in our society are thus understandable", she said.

Human beings are born included, she said, but in South Africa one has to strive to be included. "It is a travesty that children walk hundreds of kilometres to school to be included. We should be born included, rather than strive to be included. If rights are born why should we struggle for them?" she asked.

Pheko had a word of warning if this social exclusion continues: "It is very dangerous for people to feel that there is no place for them at this table. Such frustrations are a potential weapon of mass destruction and can easily lead to xenophobic violence."

She also spoke about the exclusion of African foreign nationals. "We were good at welcoming Spanish, German, English and Brazilian fans during the FIFA World Cup, but cannot welcome our Zimbabwean, Mozambican and Malawian friends. How can one talk of social inclusion when people are set on fire?" she asked.

(Press Release by the Diakonia Council of Churches and used by permission.Visit them at www.diakonia.org.za.)