The world was taken by surprise 20 years ago today when the then last President of apartheid South Africa, former President FW de Klerk, made a historic announcement of the beginning of the end of apartheid.

It was a day that will remain etched in African history as one of the most significant and defining one and its historic significance cannot be lost to many who for generations lived under an undemocratic and unjust constitutional order.

I was living in Washington DC at the time oblivious of the true significance of the announcement in Parliament by President de Klerk.

Given the protracted nature of the struggle and the entrenched nature of the apartheid state, it was unthinkable that real change could flow in an evolutionary and peaceful manner and that practitioners of an evil system could self-correct.

What is the purpose of life? We all know that human life is perishable and yet each day of life provides meaning if it is shared.

Social groups exist as personal and direct social ties that either link individuals who share values and beliefs or impersonal, formal and instrumental social links.

When individuals interact then social phenomena arises and in the majority of African countries, the interaction is more personal and solidarity is, therefore, mechanical whereas in the world we now live in that is characterized by dissolution of borders there is a new reality that we have to appreciate and accept that compels humanity to invest in organic solidarity that is a consequence of cooperation between differentiated individuals with independent roles.

It was President Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826), the third President of the United States (1801-1809) and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the country, who said: "I like dreams of the future better than the history of the past."

The future of any nation belongs to its builders. Jefferson also said: "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion."

We, the people, have the power to shape our future and secure it.

Jefferson was and would not be alone in holding the view that there is no safer depository of the ultimate powers of any society but the people themselves.

The role of working men and women in nation building cannot be understated.

The story of the decolonisation of Africa cannot be complete without mention of the influential role of the trade union movement in determining labour and industrial relations and more importantly in shaping the political and economic agenda of the time.

South Africa, Africa's economic powerhouse, has the largest trade union movement on the continent. It is part of the tripartite alliance that has governed the country for the past 16 years.

As we look back at the journey travelled so far, what can we say about our collective knowledge of the concept of trade unionism? What are its origins? How effective is trade unionism as an instrument for economic and social change?

Mr. Strickland Gillian (1868-1954), American poet and humorist in his famous poem, The Reading Mother, wrote:

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be-
I had a mother who read to me.

Any wealth accumulation process that remains untold creates distortions of the order that can be counterproductive.

Our mothers could not tell us the story of corporate Africa because the majority of Africans were excluded from the story.

Capitalism was not for the majority and the laws made sure that black dreams and aspirations would be prescribed and managed.

Accordingly, manner and circumstances in which the tangible wealth that people like Rhodes made remained untold to native Africans. This part of our Africa's heritage was never told to us.

Africa has and continues to offer promise to a few while the majority make a living in abject poverty.

The pyramidal shape and structure of African society characterised by a few individuals at the pinnacle with the majority struggling at the bottom has regrettably not been affected by independence.

South Africa is the most developed of all African states accounting for about 45% of the continent's Gross Domestic Product.

What makes South African unique? Did it succeed where other African states failed solely due to racism? What were the dynamics at play?

What we do know is that only a few men leave lasting impressions and their actions and choices had a significant influence on the kind of South Africa we see today.

The world's first independent black republic, Haiti, was struck at 4:53pm local time or 21:53 UTC on 12 January 2010, by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake January 12, 2010, at 21:53 UTC.

The earthquake, the most severe in 200 years, exposed more about our African heritage than the visible damage to human and physical infrastructure that we have seen.

Haiti's geography in the Western Hemisphere may be misleading as the values, beliefs and principles that inform its approach to nation building may not be any different from the majority of African states.

We have seen the global response to the calamity. The nature and source of the response is instructive.

At a time when the viability of the global capitalist system is in question, we see the major players in the humanitarian and philanthropic spheres originating from the West.