No subject

Tena koe Thabo Mbeki,
I understand a nomination has been put forward for me to receive a South
African honour later this year, the Companions of O R Tambo Award, on
behalf of HART and the anti-apartheid movement of New Zealand for our
work campaigning to end apartheid in South Africa.

I note the particular honour is conferred by the President of South
Africa and awarded to "foreign citizens who have promoted South African
interests and aspirations through co-operation, solidarity and support".


We are proud of the role played by the movement here to assist the
struggle against apartheid and I appreciate the sentiment behind the
nomination.=20

However after the most careful consideration I respectfully request the
nomination proceed no further. Were an award to be made I would decline
to accept it either personally or on behalf of the movement.

New Zealanders who campaigned against apartheid did so to bring real and
meaningful change in the lives of South Africa's impoverished and
disenfranchised black communities. We were appalled and angered at the
callous brutality of a system based on racism and exploitation of black
South Africans for the benefit of South African corporations.

However while political rights have been won and celebrated, social and
economic rights have been sidelined. It is now 14 years since the first
African National Congress government was elected to power but for most
the situation is no better, and frequently worse, than it was under
white minority rule.=20

The number of South Africans living on less than $1 a day more than
doubled to 2.4 million in the first 10 years of ANC government. Despite
strong economic growth overall poverty levels have not improved and the
gap between rich and poor has increased with many black families being
driven more deeply into poverty. Unemployment remains high at around
26%.=20

It seems the entire economic structure which underpinned apartheid is
essentially unchanged. Oppression based on race has morphed seamlessly
into oppression based on economic circumstance. The faces at the top
have changed from white to black but the substance of change is an
illusion.

None of us expected things to change overnight but we did expect the
hope for change to always burn brightly as people looked ahead for their
children and grandchildren. This is now a pale gleam, dimmed by the
destructive power of free-market economics.=20


Full at:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0801/S00195.htm