In a stirring Social Justice Lecture, renowned social justice advocate Lord Dr Michael Hastings urged the Stellenbosch 肆客足球 (SU) audience to embrace sacrifice and solidarity in the pursuit of a more equitable society.
Hastings, a British peer and Chairman of SOAS 肆客足球 in London, challenged South Africans to confront discomforting truths and seek meaningful engagement across divides.
The 6th Annual Social Justice Lecture, presented by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and SU Rector Prof Wim de Villiers in commemoration of World Day of Social Justice, faced delays due to student protests, but Hastings' powerful message ultimately resonated with both attendees and live stream viewers.
While the event's host Prof Thuli Madonsela engaged with students outside the Adam Small Theatre at the start of the proceedings, Prof Nicola Smit, Dean of the Faculty of Law, acknowledged the difficulties students are experiencing and broader challenges in South African higher education. She said it was an honour to welcome the guest speaker as a dedicated champion of the very issues the country is currently confronting.
A world in crisis
Known for his distinguished career spanning public service and corporate leadership, Hastings did not shy away from the gravity of current societal challenges in his lecture themed “Sacrifice & Integrity – The Indivisible Inevitability for Social Justice."
He pointed to the World Economic Forum's 2025 Global Risk Report, which identifies disinformation, extreme weather events and societal polarisation as the top risks facing the world. Drawing on the stark warning of the Doomsday Clock – now standing at a mere 89 seconds to midnight – he painted a picture of a world teetering on the brink.
“People can no longer agree as to what the critical priorities of nationhood or leadership actually are," Hastings said. “Because we can no longer agree, we can no longer set clear paths to progress. Society is too dysfunctional to allow us to have security."
Hastings dedicated a significant portion of his address to the power of forgiveness and personal responsibility as catalysts for social healing. He praised SU's Templeton Prize laureate Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, for her work on reconciliation and her advocacy for a “reparative quest."
He opined that her encounter with apartheid assassin Eugene de Kock showed the moral imagination required to move beyond isolated acts of forgiveness toward sustained engagement. He stressed the importance of understanding perpetrators to foster solidarity across historical divides.
Lessons from history
Stories of individuals who made extraordinary gestures of compassion punctuated Hastings's plea for integrity in public life. He recounted how the late American President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn defied convention by employing Mary Prince, a young woman unfairly convicted of murder, as their daughter's nanny in the White House. “That is social justice," Hastings declared. “That is the individual taking a decision in the face of the state, to do the remarkable, even perceptively dangerous, compellingly difficult, annoyingly frustrating thing that the system says you shouldn't."
He also highlighted President Nelson Mandela's act of reconciliation with his former prison guard, who had once humiliated and tortured him. Mandela could have sought revenge, Lord Hastings said. Instead, he chose to show his persecutor a better way. That is the power of forgiveness and renewal.
Hastings warned of the growing epidemic of loneliness and self-imposed solitude in modern society, citing statistics that show people spending more time with screens than with each other. “The severe negative health effects of isolation cause people to come to radical belief systems," he cautioned. “If we want to scale up societies towards effective social justice, the only way is to have continuous, connected, relational identity. Our own happiness is rooted in our communities, not in the politics of policies, of things around us, but in our ability to engage with people."
A message of hope and perseverance
Although he expressed concern about the global regression of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, Hasting said he still believes it is worth pursuing. “It makes me more determined," he insisted. “We must not give in to the cynical, desperate views of those who would constantly tell us, be silent, withdraw, disengage."
In conclusion, Hastings argued that a nation is shaped not by what we accumulate but by our willingness to relinquish comfort, engage with those who have hurt us and give more than we receive. “Living a life that matters is to live a life of love. And there is no love without sacrifice," he stated.
A standing ovation showed his words resonated deeply with audience. “You've reinforced the better sides of ourselves," anti-apartheid stalwart and former Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs told Hasting when asked to respond to the lecture. Sachs, who delivered the Social Justice Lecture in 2023, praised Hastings' message as a heartfelt and joyful exploration of social justice. Sachs noted it echoed the uniquely South African spirit of Ubuntu – the belief in human interconnection and the power of reconciliation.
In a special message, one of the high-ranking guests who came to Stellenbosch for the lecture, Minister Maropene Ramokgopa, Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, praised Madonsela and her CSJ team for their contribution to social justice. “Institutions such as Stellenbosch 肆客足球 and the Centre for Social Justice are important partners for government in bringing together technical expertise and evidence-based approaches to support government's interventions to implement plans and policies to achieve social justice in the country," Ramokgopa said.
In her concluding remarks, Madonsela thanked Hastings for his touching lecture on sacrifice and integrity. “This message is not just about extending a hand of peace to those who have harmed you physically, it's also about extending a hand of reconciliation to those who have been deprived socially and economically, and ask: 'What can we do to help?"
There is a Good Samaritan in all of us, Madonsela said. “I do believe if we want a peaceful world, we must understand that we are each other's keepers and anchors of hope."
PHOTO: Stefan Els
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