LETTER: Be bold and find those 100 prominent Saffers

Mark Barnes is obviously a clever and proactive guy, so I’m guessing his vision of identifying and recruiting 100 prominent South Africans with proven skills is more substantial than merely being a suggestion (“Call on those willing to help, Mr President”, July 13).

If one looks at all the exciting undercurrent stirrings, including the work being done by Mmusi Maimane, Lindiwe Mazibuko, the co-operation in small municipalities between farmers and residents, the frustration of organised business as demonstrated by Business Unity SA and Business Leadership SA, and the thunderous public outrage at the inefficient ANC, the country is ripe for change. What is needed is a bold move to bring all the necessary players into line, as waiting for the 2024 poll would be disastrous.

I thought “Timid Cyril” Ramaphosa would have grabbed the chance to form a Codesa 2, which would possibly have saved his bacon and reputation, but as usual he dithered. So Mark Barnes, Rob Hersov, Patrice Motsepe and others with deep pockets will need to privatise the process of aligning these 100 prominent Saffers around a set of principles, possibly using as a template the manifesto outlined by Songezo Zibi in his new book of the same title.

In three months we could produce a set of aims, policies and priorities around which a united political movement may demand an early election. Let’s be bold, the circumstances demand this.

Michael Hook
Via email

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 Anonymous correspondence will not be published.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.