By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider

This past weekend saw the inaugural convention of the National Dialogue, in which organizations from various sectors of South Africa convened to discuss the cruel difficulties that millions of South African citizens face on a daily basis.

Historically South Africa has always elected to resolve major national conflicts through diplomatic and pragmatic conversation.

Whether it be through the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA I & II) of 1991 and 1993 where various parties convened together to agree on one solid and democratic constitution of South Africa.

 As well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of 1996, which aimed at healing the trauma that was caused by the Apartheid government, by granting amnesty to perpetrators of crimes committed against the oppressed black people in Apartheid by the police force or any member of governance at the time, if they simply told the truth of what they did to the countless families that suffered during that time.

 Now in the modern era this method is being used through a citizen-led convention called the ‘National Dialogue’,  which aims to critically break down various sectors which include Labour & Trade Unions, Anti-Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Organizations, Interfaith and Religious sectors etc, in order to mend the discrepancies caused by poor governance and outright lack of leadership.

The convention was held over a two day period in which the first day was the ushering in of the dialogue with an address from the President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well musical performances and panel discussions as well.

Then the various sectors would then break into “Break Away Groups” in order for each sector to have its own voice which was led by specific facilitators in order to guide the conversations and give a report of what was discussed to the higher ups in government.

While this seems like a well-intentioned approach towards nation building, the lack of concrete participation from the actual President and Ministers in regards to engaging and sitting in on each of these discussions , begs the question of whether or not this a sincere attempt at mending the relationship between government and citizenry or if this is a merely political stunt in order to cosmetically make it seem like the government is dedicated to making actual change.

So far what would win over the trust of the general public is if the government moves towards implementation of changing the grievances outlined by the people.

The game plan of the dialogue is as follows; begin with a convention in order to establish what are the specific problems that the citizens of South Africa have beyond all sectors, then each sector will nominate a steering committee representing each sector in order to hold the government responsible for changing laws that will benefit the general public, then a 6-8 month period will occur where the steering committee and Government critically discuss the matters at hand and move to change things for the better of the country.

Some organisations, specifically the Black Woman Caucuses, have expressed their disappointment that key decision makers were not present during the critical discussions the break away groups had.

“While the convention was well attended and brought together various sectors including civil society, government, and faith groups, the absence of key-decision makers who hold levels of power was glaring. Most notably the voices of the youth were missing from both the room and the agenda. At a time when young people are bearing the brunt of unemployment, disillusionment and systemic failure, their exclusion is not only disappointing, it is also dangerous.” as per a statement released by the Black Woman Caucuses via Instagram in regards to the National Dialogue convention.