Time and again, the world’s rich minority have failed to deliver on their own promises, however weak and limited these promises are. This is a consequence of the capitalist economic system these forces of imperialist might are working hard to sustain, a system characterised by, amongst others:

 The continuing use of debt as the primary instrument of domination and control, despite the much publicised ’debt-relief’, which is said to amount to only about one eight of what Africa really needs for sustainable development;

 Reliance on ’free trade’ to guarantee the continuation and perpetuation of the unequal power relations in global affairs;

 The conditions tied to the so-called ’efforts’ by the G8 members, are the very instruments for furthering the impoverishment of the poor countries, including opening natural and strategic resources to companies from the North, leading to de-industrialisation, ecological crisis and growth rates that do not address the fundamental needs of the people;

 Failure to acknowledge any responsibility for the historical and structural causes of the poverty crisis and their own culpability;

 Failure to deliver even on the very insignificant promises they make. In essence, the G8 is only interested in affirming their agenda of transforming the world into a haven for neo-liberal greed and corporate parasitism.

COSATU calls on the world’s poor and working people to intensify the struggle for a new world order based on satisfying the basic needs of all the people, instead of increasing the profits of a rich few. The future of humanity lies in the all-round intensification of the struggle against the unsustainable growth path the world economy is currently pursuing.

Our demands to the G8 leaders, which we call on all progressive people all over the world to support, are:

 Deliver on all your previous promises, including the Millennium Development Goals and the Monterrey agreement;

 An end to the intransigence of the rich countries in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations and their insensitivity over the developmental needs of poor countries, particularly in relation to such issues as access to markets, agricultural subsidies, de-industrialisation, environmental degradation, etc.;

 An end to unilateralism and obstruction of efforts to transform global multilateral institutions, particularly the UN, World Bank, IMF and WTO;

 A conscious effort to prioritise the situation of Africa and the need for redoubled efforts to make a decisive difference;

 Serious measures against the US and all its friends for refusing to sign the Kyoto protocol and all instruments to prevent environmental degradation, as the world’s leading polluter at 30%. In particular, matters of climate change and global warming should be high on the agenda.