Last week’s national convention, which kick-started the national dialogue about SA’s future, was successfully executed by an incredibly talented generation of activists representing a mix of the millennials in their forties, “born-frees” in their thirties, Gen Zs in their twenties, and even a sprinkling of Alphas in their teens.
If they manage to maintain the momentum witnessed there we may see a shift away from the crusty and sclerotic at the helm of today’s political formations to a new generation of leaders — optimistic, at times brash and loud, respectful but not reverential.
As I watched the beautiful array gathered — Rastafarian, working class, traditional leaders, intellectuals, women leaders from various backgrounds, adherents of various faiths, climate and LGBTQI+ activists — I was asked in a panel discussion to comment on the scenario we see unfolding.
I referenced the Weaver Work scenario, part of the 2035 Indlulamithi Scenarios launched in October 2023, in which a co-operative spirit among South Africans emerges, symbolised by the Kalahari sociable weavers, which build the world’s largest tree nests. These co-operatively built nests last many decades and can house up to 100 bird families, and are so sturdily built that they can recover from disruptions and disasters.
The Weaver Work scenario suggests that “by the mid-2020s, gatvol South Africans, civil society and community groups launch a protest movement against inequality, poverty and lack of services. All this puts huge pressure on the government and business to respond to people’s demands. There is a fresh sense of active citizenship and constitutionalism”. This scenario was evident at the meeting.
The skilful moderators of the meeting — many of them steeled in the cauldron of the 2015 Fees Must Fall movement — miraculously ensured that the discussions were orderly, allowing a multitude of voices to be heard.
The process is proving to be deeply democratic, with all the messiness that participatory practices bring. Those who stayed outside the process have been taking potshots at that, claiming that they would have run the process better. Be that as it may, the young organisers made sure no view was suppressed or overlooked or went unrepresented.
A case in point is the composition of the steering committee, meant to organise the national dialogue process. The preparatory team had identified 22 sectors to be represented on that body. When some delegates complained that their affiliations or their inclinations were not represented in those 22 sectors, arrangements were made to accommodate them.
The conversations preceding the convention, and those at the convention, emphasise the urgent need to address the pressing problems facing SA. Again, those sniping from the sidelines claim that this process is directionless and will produce a concoction of wacky demands.
The preparatory team had identified the following themes guiding the national dialogue:
- A dynamic, inclusive economy;
- Jobs;
- Poverty and inequality;
- Crime and corruption;
- Improving education and a healthy nation;
- Fixing the state and making the constitution work;
- Building SA values, culture and strengthening our social fabric;
- Gender and gender-based violence and femicide;
- Dealing with intergenerational trauma and healing; and
- Land, spatial equality and environmental justice.
The aim is that these themes will be the framework around which the Peoples’ Compact will be structured, an aspirational document that will be turned into a programme of action in the form of a new National Development Plan.
The urgency can be seen in the tight deadlines set by the organising committee: sectors have until end-August to elect their representatives onto the steering committee, with a call for volunteers to be trained to facilitate the envisaged 50,000 local level dialogues and the hosting of the next convention in May/June 2026, when the People’s Compact will be adopted.
Abraham Lincoln said: “The most powerful force in politics are the battalions of time.” August 15 and 16 could well be the birthdate of this new battalion, whose pennant is not black, green and gold, nor blue and white, nor red, but a beautiful, multilayered kaleidoscope of all the South African colours.
• Abba Omar is director of operations at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.