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President Cyril Ramaphosa Picture: REUTERS /MIKE HUTCHINGS
It is nearly a month since in his state of the nation address President Cyril Ramaphosa promised a “new social compact within 100 days”. True to form, he provided no details of the end objective, the intended constructors of or the partners within that compact, and to date we see no obvious progress.
With the failure of the existing social compact, if indeed there ever was one, South Africans have a right to demand representation and participation in the formulation of such a compact and a role in its implementation.
It cannot be left only to self-serving representatives of the incompetent, gutless ANC-led government, a small selection of business leaders and a few trade unions. They promote their own particular competitive interests, rarely reach meaningful consensual action, and are in any case insufficiently inclusive and representative of our broader societal aspirations, opinions and needs.
Notwithstanding the ANC’s claim that it is the “leader of society” it is actually civil society that needs to take the lead and draw up a social compact with government — not the other way around. Civil society organisations, groupings and foundations striving to reform and improve the state of our economy, constitutional democracy, the rule of law, human rights, education, health, housing, safety and security, energy, transport logistics, foreign policy and the elimination of racism, should unite and hold their own Convention for Political, Economic, Social & Constitutional Advancement and construct their own version of a social compact that they all buy into and support.
Only in that way, will a “social compact” become more than just another part of Ramaphosa’s tedious, repetitive political rhetoric; an initiative that puts a widely supported, all-embracing national strategy on the table, conceived by people who actually know what they are talking about and capable of reversing our current trajectory towards a failed state.
Civil society leaders must urgently get their act together.
David Gant, Kenilworth
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Unite, leaders of civil society
It is nearly a month since in his state of the nation address President Cyril Ramaphosa promised a “new social compact within 100 days”. True to form, he provided no details of the end objective, the intended constructors of or the partners within that compact, and to date we see no obvious progress.
With the failure of the existing social compact, if indeed there ever was one, South Africans have a right to demand representation and participation in the formulation of such a compact and a role in its implementation.
It cannot be left only to self-serving representatives of the incompetent, gutless ANC-led government, a small selection of business leaders and a few trade unions. They promote their own particular competitive interests, rarely reach meaningful consensual action, and are in any case insufficiently inclusive and representative of our broader societal aspirations, opinions and needs.
Notwithstanding the ANC’s claim that it is the “leader of society” it is actually civil society that needs to take the lead and draw up a social compact with government — not the other way around. Civil society organisations, groupings and foundations striving to reform and improve the state of our economy, constitutional democracy, the rule of law, human rights, education, health, housing, safety and security, energy, transport logistics, foreign policy and the elimination of racism, should unite and hold their own Convention for Political, Economic, Social & Constitutional Advancement and construct their own version of a social compact that they all buy into and support.
Only in that way, will a “social compact” become more than just another part of Ramaphosa’s tedious, repetitive political rhetoric; an initiative that puts a widely supported, all-embracing national strategy on the table, conceived by people who actually know what they are talking about and capable of reversing our current trajectory towards a failed state.
Civil society leaders must urgently get their act together.
David Gant, Kenilworth
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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