Across the globe, political and social systems are hardening. Leadership that rewards domination, certainty and performance is gaining traction, while complexity, humility and listening are pushed aside. Those who are materially poor, displaced or different are too often framed as problems to be managed rather than people with insight, agency and solutions of their own.
As the world marks World Day of Social Justice on the 20th of February, under the theme “Empowering Inclusion: Bridging Gaps for Social Justice,” the phrase is hopeful, yet the question beneath it is confronting. In a world increasingly shaped by power, polarisation and performance, who is inclusion really for, and who ultimately gets to define what justice looks like in practice?
South Africa understands this terrain intimately. It remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, not only in income and opportunity, but in whose voices shape decisions and whose lived experiences are taken seriously. While policies and programmes aimed at redress exist, decisions about material poverty and development are still frequently made at a distance from the communities most affected by them. Even well-intentioned interventions can unintentionally reinforce power imbalances by positioning some as ‘good’ givers and others as grateful recipients.
“At its core, social justice is not a project we choose to do or not do,” says Mandy Pearson, CEO of the ReStory Foundation. “It is something we live every day in how we encounter one another, how power is shared or withheld, and whose voices are allowed to matter. The real question is whether we are choosing to live social justice or social injustice.”
According to Pearson, the deepest gap driving inequality is not only material. It is relational and structural, rooted in power dynamics that strip people of voice, dignity and agency. This gap is often invisible in public discourse, yet its consequences are profound, shaping everything from social cohesion and trust to long-term economic outcomes.
Through its work in communities such as Inanda in Durban, the ReStory Foundation has witnessed a reality that seldom makes headlines. Alongside material poverty, unemployment, food insecurity and violence, there is also leadership, resilience and collective wisdom. Pearson notes that when community-building processes focus on shifting power rather than delivering resources, the outcomes change fundamentally. “We have seen transformation occur where people moved from being spoken about to being listened to, from being recipients to being contributors.”
What emerges is often uncomfortable, yet transformative. Community members are invited not only to name the challenges they face, but to reflect on their own role within them, creating a powerful shift from blame to ownership. In one such process, a participant shared how recognising their own contribution to crime in the area led them to change their behaviour, saying they had stopped buying stolen goods and begun researching ways to improve their living environment. The resources did not change, but the power dynamics did.
Similar shifts have been seen in the Foundation’s youth programmes, where high school participants move from waiting for change to actively contributing within their communities. Young people have spoken about helping neighbours with homework, facilitating conversations to address division among peers, and recognising their own capacity to lead and unite others. These moments reflect a deeper change from “I need” to “I can contribute,” grounded in the belief that all people hold dignity and power that can be used for good.
These experiences challenge a dominant global narrative that solutions must come from the top, from those with money, political capital or platforms. Social justice has always moved in the opposite direction. It asks those with power to loosen their grip, to listen more than they speak, and to recognise dignity rather than attempt to bestow it.
In an age of polarisation, fear and exclusion are easily weaponised. Yet communities experiencing material poverty often practise interdependence, shared responsibility and inclusion as a daily necessity rather than an abstract ideal. “There is a quiet wisdom in communities that survive through cooperation,” says Pearson. “They understand something our global systems are forgetting, that sustainable futures are built through shared power, not domination.”
While this kind of work is slow, relational and deeply counter-cultural, it builds foundations that endure. It may not trend well or offer quick wins, but it creates conditions where people move from dependency to ownership, and from silence to agency.
On this World Day of Social Justice, the call is not simply to care more, give more or do more. It is to pay closer attention to power, to notice who is being centred and who is being excluded, and to make deliberate choices that reshape those dynamics in everyday interactions, institutions and policies.
“Justice does not grow where the materially wealthy are always cast as the heroes,” Pearson concludes. “It grows when voices that were once ignored begin to shape the story, and when inclusion is understood not as an invitation into existing systems, but as the courage to transform systems that were never designed for everyone.”
www.restoryfoundation.co.za