UN Secretary-General lays South Africa's woes at the feet of apartheid

UN Secretary-General lays South Africa's woes at the feet of apartheid

- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has laid the blame for South Africa's inequality on apartheid

- He said the inequalities created by apartheid has made South Africa one of the most unequal countries in the world

- Guterres added that inequality leads to fewer choices and opportunities in people's lives

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pinned South Africa's problems on apartheid.

He did this during the 18th annual Nelson Mandela lecture in New York virtually. The lecture was titled: Tackling the Inequality Pandemic: A New Social Contract for a New Era.

The lecture was also in honour of Zindzi Mandela, the daughter of Nelson Mandela.

”Colonialism created vast inequality within and between countries, including the evils of the transatlantic slave trade and the apartheid regime here in South Africa,” he said.

Originally the lecture was supposed to be held at the North West University and he said that people all over the world understood how inequality leads to fewer life chances and opportunities.

He added that the latest social movements highlighted the frustration with the current balance of power.

“Women everywhere have called time on one of the most egregious examples of gender inequality: violence perpetrated by powerful men against women who are simply trying to do their jobs,” he said.
UN Secretary-General lays South Africa's woes at the feet of apartheid
Antonio Guterres gave the 18th annual Nelson Mandela lecture. Photo credit: Getty Images
Source: UGC

He went on to describe the global trade system as having created a new type of colonialism.

“Africa has been a double victim. First, as a target of the colonial project. Second, African countries are under-represented in the international institutions that were created after the Second World War, before most of them had won independence,” said Guterres.

Guterres also said that patriarchy was another means of creating inequality.

“We live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture. Everywhere, women are worse off than men, simply because they are women. Inequality and discrimination are the norm. Violence against women, including femicide, is at epidemic levels,” said the former prime minister of Portugal.

In other news, the Economic Freedom Fighters MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has weighed in on the legacy of the late Nelson Mandela as the nation commemorates the 102nd anniversary of his birth.

Questioning one of the former president's quotes, Ndlozi took to social media to comment:

"Mandela once said he fought against 'black domination'. Can those with rigorous minds help me process this? Where in the world or history have people been dominated by 'blacks'? Where has this blackness represented domination, superiority & privilege? What did Mandela mean?"

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