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"No peace without justice - Pay for justice as insurance for peace” was the core message in the Second Annual Social Justice Lecture, delivered this week by Grammy award winner, author, Harvard University Senior Fellow and founder of the Department of PEACE, Keith Errol Benson.

He further opined that South Africa and the US are in pole position to set the gold standard on leadership for a socially just world. Benson's message was delivered at a lecture hosted by Professor Thuli Madonsela, Law Trust Chair in Social Justice at Stellenbosch University, on Tuesday 23 March 2021. 

The event was arranged in commemoration of World Social Justice Day, which was on 20 February, and continued the theme of the first lecture delivered in February 2020 by Justice Dennis Davis, when he focused on economic inclusion. 

Benson’s lecture was themed “Apparent Problems - Hidden Opportunities: Amazing Opportunities for Social Justice in US and SA in 2021”. In it, he drew parallels between America and South Africa, and how social justice has played out in each country. 

Both nations, he told participants, have positive and negative examples of how social justice was pursued in each country. These examples, said Benson, should serve as case studies for the rest of the world and can be used in the drawing up of a gold standard on how social justice should be achieved.

“We have seen examples of where things have grown horribly wrong – such as racial bigotry, police brutality, and issues around access to quality education and the financial costs associated to this. Equally though, each nation has shown the ability to recover or to reset itself to some extent, with the contribution made by leaders like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, and the arrival of a free and democratic dispensation in South Africa while America turned its back on the legacy of Donald Trump,” said Benson.

“Social justice is people fair. Is it people fair that our political system in America and South Africa allows people with a blue uniform or with a badge to take the life of an innocent person, without recourse? Is that people fair? I think even a four year old would know that this is not people fair, but I believe we can get to fair.

“I am confident that social justice can become a reality. I am proposing that a joint commission between my academic institution and Stellenbosch University be set up to unite good people from both our nations, to draw up the gold standard in social justice for the rest of the world. America and South Africa can work together to continue the good work started by King and Mandela. Equal access to information and resources is critical for the promotion of social justice around the world.”

Professor Wim de Villiers, Stellenbosch Vice Chancellor and Chair of the Council of Social Justice Champions under the Social Justice M-Plan, weighed in on the importance of social justice and the enormous potential a partnership for social justice has.  He further alluded to some of the concrete steps Stellenbosch University is taking to be a force for good regarding social justice within itself as an institution, and in society. 

In her concluding observations, Madonsela told participants that she concurred with Benson’s sentiments that justice is about fairness to all people, and that it requires everyone to play their part.

"None of us in this room created the social justice disparities that confront our societies and the world. But it is our problem now and if we don't solve it, we will not enjoy peace because as long as there is injustice somewhere, there can't be sustainable peace anywhere.  

“I agree with Keith that within us there is enormous capacity for a gold standard on leadership to achieve meaningful progress on social justice, the priority being to end poverty by 2030 and significantly reduce structural inequality in the same period."

South Africa and the United States can help set the gold standard in promoting a socially just country, through leaders in each of their societies. South Africa’s Constitution, which anti-Apartheid leaders like Nelson Mandela fought for, is already playing a key role in addressing injustices of the past, she added.

“Social justice entails a state where there is just, fair and equitable distribution of all societal resources, opportunities, benefits, privileges and burdens. It is about levelling the playing field,” said Madonsela.

Apart from historical social justice concerns such as police brutality, student debt barring economically disadvantaged students from education, the conversation during an open question and answer session veered into current affairs including vaccine distribution equity within and between countries. 

Participants also weighed in on the perennial challenge of corruption and its negative impact on levelling the playing field in the pursuit of social justice.

Issued by HWB Communications Pty Ltd on behalf of the Law Trust Chair in Social Justice, at Stellenbosch University