The first inaugural Social Justice Summit and International Conference presented by Prof Thuli Madonsela, Law Trust Chair in Social Justice at Stellenbosch University (SU), kicked off on a hopeful note on Thursday, 29 August 2019 with various high-level speakers and members of civil society coming together to unpack the concept of social justice in South Africa.

The summit and international conference is taking place at the Hazendal Wine Estate outside Stellenbosch from 29–31 August and is themed “Leveraging the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Human Rights Agenda to advance Social Justice". The outcome of the summit will be to emerge with a declaration detailing the desired future regarding social justice efforts, a summary of current challenges, and a call for action to government, businesses, society and academia, the judicial system and the global community.

At the opening ceremony, Prof Madonsela reminded those in attendance about the importance of everyone working together to help solve social justice issues in the country.

“An injury to one is an injury to all. As long as there is injustice somewhere, there can't be sustainable peace anywhere. We are here today because, like the UN, we believe that no one should be left behind as society and the world progresses into the future. We are here to decide as part of the summit where we are in South Africa with regards to social justice. If we work together, then poverty will be nothing against us, it will be history. It will take all of us to build a society where there is a place for everyone in all areas of our lives," said Prof Madonsela.

Prof Madonsela also shared the Social Justice M-Plan (Mosa-Plan for Social Justice) with those in attendance. The Social Justice M-Plan is a social justice accelerator programme that aims to catalyse the process of ending poverty and equalising life opportunities by 2030 as envisaged in the National Development Plan (NDP) read with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The project seeks to establish, among others, a social justice think tank to help government accelerate progress towards socio-economic inclusion and related shared prosperity as part of anchoring democracy and the rule of law.

SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wim de Villiers, reiterated Prof Madonsela's remarks during his speech at the opening ceremony. He stressed the importance of the M-Plan for Social Justice and said that it needed a strong coalition that sought to end poverty and drastically reduce structural inequality.

“Societal challenges can't be solved in isolation. We have representatives from all of these sectors here. We must all do our part – universities, the rest of civil society, the state and also businesses. Stellenbosch University is committed to advance knowledge in service of society. We have made a commitment to be a force for good in the transformation of South Africa into a place of opportunity for all, a place of shared prosperity and a place where there's sustainable peaceful coexistence," said Prof de Villiers.

Representing the South African president, Mr Jackson Mthembu, Minister in the Presidency, delivered the keynote address at the opening ceremony. He said that government was hopeful and looked forward to the outcomes of the summit.

Mr Jackson Mthembu, Minister in Presidency.

“We commend Stellenbosch University for elevating this issue around social justice in our national discourse. We need more of these engagements. This summit and conference is timely for us to have a microscopic look at the justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges within our society. As we commemorate 25 years of our democratic dispensation, it is more compelling for us to examine the way in which human rights are manifested in the everyday lives of people at every level of our society," said Mr Mthembu.

He further also employed those in attendance and the rest of the country to not only look to government alone to help solve the social injustices in South Africa. “Leaving government as the sole proprietor of the social justice project is limited. Everyone has to do his or her part. It is important to elevate the voice of the poor to plot the way forward. We look forward to seeing how this summit will help come up with more solutions to help alleviate poverty and inequality," said Mr Mthembu.

The keynote speakers and panellists for the three-day summit include Dr Pali Lehohla, former Statistician General; former President FW de Klerk; Nicky Newton King, former CEO of the JSE; Busiswe Mavuso, CEO, Business Leadership South Africa; Ben Turok, former anti-apartheid activist and MP; Justice Dunstan Mlambo, Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa; Ashraf Garda, media host and investigative journalist; and Sello Hatang, CEO, Nelson Mandela Foundation.

In a declaration adopted at the end of the first day's summit, delegates expressed their concern about ongoing poverty in South Africa, the inequality still experienced by women, and a deterioration in social cohesion in our country. They called for accelerated change, and committed to joining hands to reverse disparities in all sectors of society. Those attending the conference the following two days resolved to form a coalition of universities, researchers and civil society that would work in a coordinated way to advance social justice. 

• Watch the live streaming of the remainder of the summit on the Social Justice M-Plan Facebook page.