Poverty denies human rights
Poverty denies human rights as surely as any political system, the Rev. Dr. Frank Chikane told the Assembly workshop on human rights on Thursday. “The degree of a person’s poverty is defined by that person’s capacity to make choices, he said. “The fewer choices you have, the fewer rights you have.”
A long-time anti-apartheid activist and former General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, Dr. Chikane in 1999 was named by Thabo Mbeki as Director General of the Republic of South Africa’s Office of the Presidency.
He called upon Africans to show solidarity with people in economic distress and warned, “Violating a person’s rights is violating a gift of God. We are all created in the image of God, and one who denies anyone free choices is undermining God.”
