On Thursday 16 February 2023, when the President responds to the State of the Nation Address (Sona) debate in Parliament, Build One SA (Bosa) will gather in Johannesburg to unveil our nine provincial leaders and our policy suite that will form the basis of our 2024 election campaign.
As part of this event, we will unpack Bosa’s electoral offer to voters — that which separates us from the rest of the pack and indicates our unique and unoccupied space and role in the South African political landscape.
That role is to build a broad coalition by uniting South Africans around a set of shared values in the radical centre of politics. By drawing from good ideas on the right and the left, from the DA and the ANC — and all the other parties that will play a role in South Africa’s future of coalition politics — we will unite the warring political factions and get on with the business of building South Africa.
South Africans are sick and tired of petty politics, mudslinging and point-scoring. We will need to build consensus around original ideas, creative ideas, and smart ideas to achieve results at scale. And Bosa will play the anchor tenant in this national consensus.
Our focus for the future of South Africa is on the notion of the “radical centre”. It’s “radical” because it departs from the old tools of democratic engagement and strict adherence to ideology. And “centre” because of the position it occupies, holding practical progress as paramount by considering all ideas from the entire spectrum.
This is borne out of the value of ubuntu, the anchor tenet of Bosa’s vision for South Africa. The value that human dignity cannot be violated, that our interconnectedness is sacrosanct.
How does our role differ from the others? Radical centrism is by definition not ideologically dogmatic. Rather it is pragmatic, looking to draw the best ideas out of and bring all sides together to build consensus on a way forward that benefits the country.
Secondly, Bosa is not a home for failed politicians. In fact, the very opposite. We have been disciplined in not going after the low-hanging fruit — disgruntled politicians from other parties.
Instead, our model is to recruit talented, passionate, skilled, and ethical South Africans into the political fray and to serve their country in Parliament. There are thousands of talented South Africans who are locked out and dissuaded from public service. Our role is to unlock Parliament and open its doors to talent and ethical service over recycled career politicians.
Thirdly, I have been on both sides of the political divide — from Thabo Mbeki’s ANC to the DA of late. And I have formed some of the country’s most important coalition agreements in metros following 2016. Moreover, I led a broad coalition within the DA itself, between the conservative and classical liberal faction and the progressive social democratic faction.
I have a keen perspective on what works, what doesn’t, and what’s required to build consensus nationally around the radical centre.
There is no morality in the politics of us versus them, or left versus right, or rich versus poor, or tribe versus tribe. It is immoral to govern only for the benefit of a small, wealthy elite.
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At Build One South Africa, we believe that the only conscious moral choice is to create a future in which all South Africans, regardless of race, creed or wealth, deserve competent, honest government that offers a realistic hope of a better future.
Only when all South Africans are free to use their resources to create value for others, and reward those who create value for them, can we be sure that tomorrow, everyone will be a little better off than today.
Genuine solutions to the country’s problems recognise the legitimate interests of all South Africans, and are based on realism and pragmatism, not on ideological illusions and tribal loyalty. Centrism adopts policies and plans not because they sound good in theory, but because they are proven to work in practice.
Centrism recognises the power of the market and adopts policies that promote property rights and free enterprise. This belief is based on the premise that economics is not a zero-sum game with winners and losers, but that a free economy raises the general prosperity of all its participants, reducing poverty and expanding the middle class.
However, it also values the role of the state to ensure that nobody is left behind, nobody is excluded, and that the public interest is protected. It seeks to ensure that everyone is not only free in principle, but that no matter their material circumstances, everyone is also free in practice to exercise the choices that improve their lives.
That centrism rejects traditional ideological divisions and views compromise as productive and does not mean that it abandons all principles.
At Build One South Africa, we espouse a strong value system based on individual rights and freedom, balanced with a powerful sense of ubuntu that knits society together despite individual differences.
We are committed to upholding the rule of law, social and economic justice and political accountability. We are committed to free thought, free speech, and free exercise of faith.
We are under no illusion that all it would take to turn the country around is a little less corruption, a little more diligence, some more competence, and a few fresh faces.
That’s why our brand of centrism is also radical. It recognises that change will require fundamental reform of democratic institutions and government practices.
That does not mean we need to spend vast amounts of taxpayer money and many years rebuilding. Many radical centrist ideas can be achieved fairly quickly, and with minimal commitment of fiscal resources.
Radical centrism promises a new kind of politics in which political differences are not a liability, but a strength, since it produces a richer well of ideas and solutions from which we can draw.
Instead of painting castles in the sky with vague promises of a wonderful but unrealistic science-fiction future when they can’t even keep the lights on, radical centrism promises results based on practical ideas, diligent action, and grassroots accountability.
On Thursday we will launch Bosa’s policy suite — 10 ideas to fix SA that we will mobilise citizens and political parties around. These ideas cover the economy, education, healthcare, safety and efficient government. Most crucially, these are not ideological ideas. They are based on values that all sides of the political spectrum can coalesce around.
In addition, we will unveil our nine provincial leaders who will be recruiting candidates for election, mobilising communities, and building the Bosa brand across South Africa.
Together, we can build a South Africa that works for all its citizens, no matter their party loyalties, where they live, or how rich or poor they are. We need to work with each other, not against each other.
Build One South Africa’s radical centrism model is the best, and only, way to make coalition politics work for all South Africans. DM