Eminent Persons Group — National Dialogue could deliver the SA that we deserve

Gift of the Givers founder and Eminent Persons Group (EPG) member Dr Imtiaz Sooliman says he is optimistic about the National Dialogue. 

He told Daily Maverick that although there was “lots of negativity and pessimism” about the proliferation of dialogues, discussions and committees set up to address the country’s concerns, he was “very encouraged” because he knows “there’s a willingness to help fix the system”.

He noted that the legacy foundations that withdrew from the process did not pull out of the National Dialogue itself, but rather from the Preparatory Task Team (PTT) and the National Convention.

“To me that’s a damn good sign,” Sooliman said, adding that a difference of opinion and ideas is often a “great thing”.

“When you have disagreement, when you have some ‘conflict’, when you have a difference of ideas, it means there’s a willingness for dialogue to find a solution. So if these things didn’t happen, I would’ve got worried,” he said. 

“To me, it is an excellent thing that this has happened, and now there should be a willingness to find each other again.”

Most South Africans know what the country’s problems are, according to Sooliman. But he views his role in the National Dialogue as part of “challenging the government on what they’re not doing right, and asking the citizens what’s wrong”.

“This National Dialogue, or the Eminent Persons Group, must have the power to tell the government: ‘You need to go and ask that municipal manager why this was not done and how soon can we implement it?’ 

“But, if we listen to people’s problems and do nothing about it, we might as well go home and sleep – we’re wasting our time. 

“There’s a lot of things citizens can fix themselves. When I say this, what I’m calling for is patriotism. We have to understand that the only way this country can work is if we make it work together. There’s no other way of doing this. But this is not [letting] the government off the hook.”

Change through conflict

Sooliman is one of the members of the Eminent Persons Group, including Professor Tinyiko Maluleke and Roelf Meyer, who told Daily Maverick that they understand the cynicism towards the National Dialogue announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, but that they regard it as a powerful and necessary step towards real change.

Ramaphosa called in June for an inclusive National Dialogue – a people-led, society-wide process to reflect, reset and reimagine South Africa’s future, saying that it was “a chance for all South Africans, from all walks of life, to come together and help shape the next chapter of our democracy”.

As the National Convention begins on Friday, leaders of the EPG say it is a potential turning point for the country, but only if citizens move beyond cynicism and reclaim their role in shaping the nation’s future.  

Read more: The National Dialogue’s ultimate test would be to overcome our cynicism

The convention, a precursor to the National Dialogue, will take place in Pretoria over the weekend. It comes while unemployment and crime rates remain high, and public trust in institutions and democratic processes is rapidly declining.  

Maluleke, co-chair of the EPG appointed by Ramaphosa to guide the National Dialogue, said growing cynicism among citizens was entirely justified given how often people had been failed over the past 30 years. 

“The cynicism that is emerging is quite understandable. There are deep, deep levels of frustration across the board. But I would like to suggest that precisely because of these frustrations and the cynicism, we need a National Dialogue… 

“It’s like job-hunting for years – giving up isn’t an option,” he said.

“We must keep pushing. We deserve the country promised in the National Development Plan, the country Mandela spoke of in his inaugural address.” 

Pushback

The dialogue has already faced pushback, with some organisations pulling out of the convention just days before it starts. They have raised concerns about “cutting corners” and rushing to host the convention on 15 August.

The National Convention will “set a broad agenda and fine-tune the process for public engagements”, according to the PTT. Hundreds of community meetings are due to take place all over the country during the dialogue process. 

Groups such as the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation cited a long list of issues, from the tight timeline and lack of preparation to internal disagreements in the PTT and what they see as too much government control. 

There has also been growing resistance from political parties, including the DA, the second-largest party in the government of national unity, which has withdrawn from the process.

Despite concerns that the government rather than the people are driving the process, former politician and Codesa negotiator Roelf Meyer has insisted that everyone must be allowed to speak freely, even if it means criticising politicians or government.

“There will be no holy cows. What we are saying as the EPG is that people must be free, must be allowed to speak their minds, and must not be prevented from expressing whatever they feel,” said Meyer, who, with Maluleke, is co-chair of the EPG.

The initiative, intended to address some of South Africa’s most urgent problems, from poor governance to gender-based violence, faced swift criticism, largely because of its reported R740-million cost. The Presidency has since disputed the figure, saying the budget has not been finalised. 

Although the EPG is not involved in the administration of the process, it has raised concerns about the figure and the lack of transparency surrounding it. 

In a statement on Thursday, 14 August, the Presidency said the convention would be funded by Nedlac and the Presidency. It reiterated that all procurement and public funds used would adhere to the Public Finance Management Act.

Read more: National Dialogue’s big question of cost shrouded in mystery

Meyer said: “If that figure is accurate, I am deeply worried. There is no justification for such a high amount. It sounds highly speculative to me.”

He said the process could be carried out far more affordably. “If South Africans come together, this can be done at a much lower cost. Our work as the EPG is voluntary. It is a service to the country.” 

Maluleke said that although the EPG was concerned about the cost of the convention, nothing appeared insurmountable for the dialogue to continue. 

From talk to action

Another EPG member, activist Professor Nomboniso Gasa, highlighted the state’s failure to tackle many pressing problems. “Over time, we have seen the inability of the state to deal with some of the issues on the table. Part of this national effort to come together is to share what we think are possible solutions.”

Using unemployment as an example, she said: “We know the figures, but there are many related challenges that come from the lived experience of being unemployed. Some of these may be addressed even without new jobs being created. 

“For instance, when you are poor and unemployed, everyday life costs a lot, so we need to look at those issues and find intermediate solutions while job creation remains a goal.”  

Gasa maintained that the process would not just be talk: “This process is not just about reiterating the problems or assessing the situation, it’s about figuring out together where we are as a nation and what we need to address moving forward.” 

The beginning, not the end

Maluleke cautioned against thinking of the dialogue as something with a complete product at the end. 

“It is a journey that is being started on Friday. That journey, in and of itself, is part of what we want to achieve, because we want to enable South Africans to be heard, to speak out, to unburden and to talk from their own perspective.

“For too long, we’ve had organisations, parliamentarians and politicians and people who speak good English speaking on their behalf, and we have now reached a stage where the vast majority of South Africans don’t feel represented by any of the above,” Maluleke said.  

During his February 2022 State of the Nation Address, Ramaphosa promised that a new social compact would be completed within 100 days, which has not yet happened.

Read more: The GNU has failed the only test that matters: growing the economy and delivering jobs

At least two frameworks of the social compact have been drafted since 2022. They include priority actions to boost investment and growth, increase employment, allow increased private sector participation in the economy and expand welfare support for the unemployed. However, some draft frameworks have been rejected by organised business and labour.  

Big business has argued that there are too many priorities in the framework and they are too fragmented. Labour representatives believed that the draft social compact framework did not go far enough in protecting workers’ rights, removing unfair labour practices and protecting workers’ wages from the rising cost of living. 

Maluleke was critical of the National Development Plan and what it has not been able to achieve.

“Of course, the social compact is important because the notion of a social compact is one where the stakeholders and the participants will hold one another to account about what they have come to agree about, and so one hopes the social compact will feed into the next major plan of the country. 

“This is at a time when the plans that we have on the table either do not seem to have worked or we have not been able to implement them as rigorously, as consistently and as coherently as we were supposed to,” Maluleke added.  

Meyer expressed similar views, emphasising that a social compact is essential to improve the lives of ordinary South Africans. He expressed support for establishing a monitoring system to ensure that the dialogue is not another talk show. 

What DM readers say they want from the talks 

Economy and jobs:

“Heal the economy, or we all sink!”
“We need an economic Codesa – we need economic growth and jobs for millions of people.”
“It’s all about jobs. Getting people to work, bringing money into the economy and growing the country.”
“Unemployment – how to create a favourable environment for investors.”

End corruption and hold leaders accountable:

“Get rid of corruption, crime and Cyril.”
“Corruption and organised crime are killing this country.”
“Clean government. Prosecute all the thieves.”
“Accountability from bureaucrats.”

Scrap race-based policies:

“Scrap BEE, employment equity and all that goes with it.”|
“BBBEE, cadre deployment and corruption have all contributed to our failing economy.”
“Get rid of racialism and treat everyone as a person in their own right.”

Crime and law enforcement:

“Treat farm murders as a priority crime.”
“Educate our police force and justice department to ensure that criminal activities have serious consequences.”
“Prosecute Julius Malema for hate speech.”

Governance and service delivery:

“Address the absolute chaos in most municipalities.”
“Employ fewer soft-skilled officials and more engineers, town planners, technical staff and bookkeepers.”
“All tender documents must be open and transparent.”

Education and skills:

“School inspectors must be reinstated.”
“Technical colleges must be brought back to train artisans.”
“Career guidance must start at primary school.”

Practical policy changes:

“The cost of electricity for prepaid meter users must be fair.”
“Jobs must be created in rural towns to curb the influx into cities.”

This is a selection of comments from ­readers on the Daily Maverick website, summarised with the aid of ChatGPT.

Reader results: have you heard about the National Dialogue?

34% Yes, I’m following it
61% Yes, but not interested
1% No, haven’t heard
4% Not sure/need more info. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.