Nobels Fredssenter

Photo: The Nobel Foundation

Born in a small village located on the banks of the Mbashe River, South Africa. Today, 100 years later, his birth is celebrated around the world. Nelson Mandela became a legend, a Messiah for millions of people. Humble, yet principled. Stubborn, yet eager to listen. A leader, but still a man of the people. In the northern hemisphere, Mandela is often seen as a man of forgiveness, as he spoke of reconciliation with whites after apartheid. In the southern hemisphere, however, he is seen as a representative of the African values of pride, humanism, democracy, and leadership.

In April, South African union members protested against a proposed minimum wage. Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo: REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham)

The minimum wage has received considerable attention over the past months in South Africa. And rightly so.  Half the population is living in poverty and about 20 per cent of those employed are living on wages below the minimum living level. Yet, while higher minimum wages are needed for the poor to regain trust in the future, there is also a high need for maximum wages for development to turn in the right direction. Some, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, are hoping for a social dialogue to provide a path forward to rebuild the economy and the nation. But it will never succeed without these two issues seen in relation to each other: lowest wages need to increase and top wages decrease.

Leymah Gbowee signing the guest book at the Nobel Peace Center last week, with Liv Tørres watching. Photo: Nobel Peace Center.

I have always been a do-er. I would rather have ten women protesting outside a building than fifty academics sitting inside of it writing papers. – Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2011.  

She is back in Oslo for a couple of intense days for the annual Business for Peace Summit, setting time aside for us to talk. Back here, where she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. She is tired and jetlagged. And no wonder. She had more than 300 travelling days last year. Since becoming part of the small exclusive group of female Nobel Peace Prize laureates, her life has consisted of travels, speeches, public appearances and loads of attention. She is building up a new programme for women, peace and security at Columbia University in the US. And at the same time, contributing to the struggles of building the headquarter for the women´s peace movement in Monrovia. Her life didn´t start like this. 

1. mai er er en dag for fest og fellesskap. Vi har mye å feire. I hvert fall her hjemme. Men kun noen få timers flyreise unna kjemper folk med livet som innsats for noe vi her hjemme tar som den største selvfølge: Kampen for demokrati, rettferdighet og likeverd, og  for retten til å organisere seg. Vår velferd her hjemme er også helt avhengig av at de vinner den kampen.

I dag, 21. mars, markerer vi verdensdagen mot rasisme. Dagen ble valgt til minne om de 69 som ble massakrert av politiet under demonstrasjoner mot raselovene i Sharpeville i Sør-Afrika i 1960. Antallet er ikke veldig forskjellig fra det som ble massakrert her hjemme den 22. juli 2011. Man angrepene har mer enn et tall til felles.  Rasisme og ekstremisme. Likevel er det få her hjemme som snakker om 22. juli på anti-rasisme-dagen. Da snakker nok de fleste mest om rasisme ute i den store verden eller rasisme på et litt mer abstrakt plan. Men kanskje vi nå endelig kan begynne å snakke om hva det egentlig dreide seg om den dagen i juli 2011, nemlig rasisme, fremmedhat og politisk angrep?

Sharpeville, 21. mars 1960: En gruppe demonstranter er samlet i protest mot innføring av passlover for svarte. Bildet er tatt noen timer før politiet åpnet ild og drepte 69 personer. (AP Photo/ Cape Argus)