Guest at the Gathering Twenty Twenty Four Election Edition at CTICC (Cape Town International Convention Centre). 14 March 2024. (Photo: Shelley Christians) 
South Africa is a hard place to live in. Thirty years on, our democratic project has moved in fits and starts. The promise of freedom and equality coexist uncomfortably with the harsh realities of vast unemployment, inequality and corruption.
Institutions groan under the weight of mistrust. Communities carry daily burdens of failing infrastructure, crime and disillusionment. Politics of the trough and stomach dominate our government structures while South African youth stand on street corners, deeply frustrated by the lack of opportunities to live out their dreams.
The diagnosis couldn’t be clearer – a failure to adapt, to respond, to reimagine and to build the South Africa we need will only deepen the crises we already face.
A refusal to change means we risk hardening inequality into permanence. It risks normalising corruption as part of our political and social fabric. We risk hollowing out our democratic values until trust becomes impossible to restore.
Delaying change is not neutral; it is regression.
The geopolitical landscape is shifting. A new global order is being created as new alliances are being formed while centuries-old certainties are dissolving at breakneck speed. To stand still means falling behind – a status we can ill afford in this fast-paced world.
At the same time, a technological revolution is reshaping every aspect of human life. Artificial intelligence, automation and digital transformation offer opportunities for growth, innovation and efficiency, yet also carry real risks of exclusion, disinformation and widening inequality. These changes are not waiting for us to be ready; they are already here.
South Africa cannot afford to be a passive bystander. Our voice, our values and our economic future are all shaped by how boldly we adapt to this new world order.
The truth is that meaningful change is rarely easy. It demands courage: the courage to let go of familiar patterns, to question entrenched power, to imagine new ways of being and governing.
Across the country – in classrooms, courtrooms, townships, farms and boardrooms – individuals and movements are doing exactly this.
They remind us that although systems may falter, people remain powerful agents of transformation and accountability.
And so, in an era when “dialogue” has become a buzzword hollowed out by talk shops and empty promises, this is why The Gathering: Changemakers Impact Edition matters.
It insists on something different. Dialogue anchored in action. It is a stage where the stories of real changemakers are told, interrogated and celebrated, not as abstract ideals but as living examples of what courage, innovation and resilience can achieve.
This dialogue is not an end in itself. It is a catalyst. It is the spark that connects citizens to ideas, leaders to accountability and individuals to the possibility of agency.
By bringing together those who dare to effect change and those who are hungry for it, The Gathering creates a space not just for reflection, but for momentum.
And in South Africa today, momentum to drive impactful change is not a luxury, but a necessity.
Our challenges are urgent, but so too is our capacity to innovate, resist and lead.
And so The Gathering offers a reminder that change, when rooted in integrity and action, is still the most powerful tool we have to reshape the future – not only of our nation, but of our place in a rapidly changing world.
This is your invitation to participate: to listen deeply, challenge assumptions, bring new ideas into the public square and leave with the courage to act. Change will come from the collective energy of all who gather.
This year, the question is not only who will speak, but what each of us will do with the inspiration, knowledge and courage we carry home.
Are we willing to disrupt the status quo to demand the change that will see South Africa’s democratic project finally achieve its full potential? DM
On the agenda
09:00 – 09:10
Intro: Rebecca Davis – Senior journalist, Daily Maverick
09:10 – 09:20
Welcome & Opening Remarks: Jillian Green – Editor-in-chief, Daily Maverick
09:20 – 10:10
State of Repair: The inside story of fixing government, one department and institution at a time
Host: Ferial Haffajee – Associate editor, Daily Maverick
Leon Schreiber – Minister of Home Affairs
Edward Kieswetter – Commissioner, South African Revenue Service
Advocate Ouma Rabaji-Rasethaba – Deputy national director of public prosecutions, Asset Forfeiture Unit, National Prosecuting Authority
10:10 – 10:25
Rapid Fire with Advocate Shamila Batohi – National director of public prosecutions, National Prosecuting Authority
10:25 – 11:00
Striking the Rock: Where courage meets justice
Host: Judith February – Executive officer, Freedom Under Law
Zingiswa Losi – President, Congress of South African Trade Unions
Lisa Vetten – Gender-based violence expert
Sonja Harri – Retired South African Police Service brigadier
11:00 – 11:30
Refreshment break
11:30 – 12:05
The New Rules of Money and Machines: The price of progress
Host: Lindsey Schutters – Journalist, Business Maverick
Larry Cooke – Head of legal for Africa operations, Binance
Khadeeja Bassier – Chief operating officer, Ninety One
Bronwyn Williams – Futurist, economist and business trends analyst
12:05 – 12:15
Rapid Fire with Alan Knott-Craig – Chief executive, Fibertime
Host: Lindsey Schutters – Journalist, Business Maverick
12:15 – 13:05
Creation of New Urban Identity: Fresh visions, renewed politics, new possibilities
Host: Stephen Grootes – Associate editor, Daily Maverick
Dr Mmusi Maimane – Leader, Build One South Africa
Songezo Zibi – National leader, Rise Mzansi
Herman Mashaba – President, ActionSA
13:05 – 14:00
Lunch break
14:05 – 14:50
A Round of Applause – Daily Maverick Freshly Squeezed
Marianne Thamm – Associate editor, Daily Maverick
14:50 – 15:25
Education on the Edge: Innovation, equity and the battle for every child’s potential
Host: Zukiswa Pikoli – Managing editor, Daily Maverick and editor, Maverick Citizen
Kentse Radebe – Deputy chief executive, DG Murray Trust
Grace Matlhape – Chief executive, SmartStart
Rachel Kolisi – Activist and philanthropist
15:25 – 16:05
The Readiness Report
Redi Tlhabi – Host, The Readiness Report
Zane Dangor – Director-general, Department of International Relations and Cooperation
16:05 – 16:35
Refreshment break
16:45 – 16:55
The Cost of an Empty Stomach: Why we must act now
Speaker: Mark Heywood – Journalist and social justice activist
17:00 – 17:10
Viral or Verified: Source code for truth
Kyle Findley – Cofounder, Murmur Intelligence
17:10 – 18:00
Behind the Story: Journalism as a change-maker
Host: Rebecca Davis – Senior journalist, Daily Maverick
Pieter-Louis Myburgh – Investigative journalist, Daily Maverick
Estelle Ellis – Senior journalist, Daily Maverick
Micah Reddy – Journalist and Africa coordinator at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Close: Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika. DM
All details, including speakers and panel topics, are subject to change at any time.
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
