HUMAN RIGHTS DAY MESSAGE

Dear Colleagues

Human Rights Day is both a celebration of the rights of all our citizens and a solemn remembrance of the suffering and sacrifice to secure them. Our Bill of Rights ensures the right to human dignity, equality and freedom for all South Africans. The struggle for liberation was one for human dignity and basic rights for all who live in this our beloved country.

On 20 April 1964, facing the death penalty, Nelson Mandela made a seminal statement to the court, saying “I have fought against white domination, I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”

As we celebrate Human Rights Day on the 21 March, it is required of each of us to make a difference in our homes, communities, workplace and to the people we serve at the GEPF. Every one of us should act in a way that reinforces the ideals that Mandela uttered when he faced one of the darkest moments of his life.

To repeat, in doing our work, we may not be able to change the lives of the 50 million plus South Africans, but if we each positively touch the lives of those we serve – our members, beneficiaries and pensioners – we are contributing towards attaining fairness, dignity and respect for all.

The drive for human dignity and basic rights is the foundation for the development of our country and the improvement of the living conditions of all our people regardless of race, gender, religion and sexual orientation. You have the power to make that change in the lives of those you engage with, whether it be in our communities or those we serve.

Happy Human Rights Day!

Yours sincerely

Abel