Herman Mashaba: We need a people’s dialogue about SA

If there is one thing I have learnt from three years in politics, it is that politics is too important to be left to our politicians.

South Africans are good people. They are innovative and proud. Our country is brimming with potential because of the South African spirit, brought about by people of all colours, creeds and backgrounds.

When I entered politics, I did so as a businessman and an ordinary citizen. I did not take on the role as mayor of Johannesburg because I needed the salary, or to advance any career ambitions.

Unfortunately, my experiences have revealed what I believe to be wrong about our country.

Politicians and political parties operate entirely with self-interest as their primary consideration in decision-making. While ordinary citizens view a decision through the lens of what is right and wrong, politicians only see the world through the lens of self-interest.

I do not suggest that this is an ANC problem; it is a problem of all political parties in our system, without exception. Before the interests of our country and its people are considered, first comes this question: “How will this affect my internal re-election?”

Have you ever watched the debates in Parliament and wondered whose benefit is being served by those self-aggrandising speeches and witty comebacks? Do not worry, you are not alone.

The problem arises from our political system, negotiated by politicians, for politicians. The result is that the people have been locked out of the discussions and decisions that are crippling our country and that are holding us all back from the potential which lies waiting to be unleashed.

We are not even able to directly elect our public representatives and hold them to account directly when they act in their own interests and not ours as residents and citizens.

THE PEOPLE’S DIALOGUE

This is precisely why I have decided to launch The People’s Dialogue this week. It is designed to have a people-led discussion about the challenges that face the country and to start engaging with each other about the solutions we need. It is only going to have one rule for its participants: treat each other with respect during these discussions.

The People’s Dialogue is a platform which will introduce topics of conversation, structured around the areas where solutions are most needed in South Africa. We need to create a platform where we can share our experiences of the challenges in the country. We need a space where we can engage on some of the greatest challenges we face in building the South Africa that we all so desperately believe is possible.

What we need is a national conversation about the kind of country we want to call home, one led by the voices of ordinary citizens without the self-interest of politicians and political parties. We need to discuss the greatest challenges facing the country and allow for the rich, diverse and innovative voices of the citizens to come to the fore.

Everywhere I have been during my mayoralty, I have witnessed what it is that makes South Africa a place brimming with potential. It is without doubt its people. It does not seem to matter where you go; South Africans know what needs to be done to save our country.

It is apparent that it is politicians and political parties that miss this because they are too busy focusing on their next elective conference, a tender or the next general election.

This is why I believe The People’s Dialogue is so desperately needed in the country.

I am calling on every freedom-loving person who shares my views and who believes that our country could be better to join in this discussion. I will be launching The People’s Dialogue through Facebook, Twitter and a micro website: www.thepeoplesdialogue.org.za

The People’s Dialogue will operate from December 2019 until the end of February 2020. While I will start in December with a relatively casual approach, this will be accelerated in January and February. I will be joined by prominent South Africans in engaging on the challenges and solutions for our country. The entire process will be led by ordinary people, and together we will build a perspective on the future for South Africa.

Let us talk. Let us take control of the discussion over our future. Let us come together in our diversity of views, languages, religions, colours and backgrounds, and engage on the solutions that are needed in South Africa for the benefit of all our people.

Mashaba is a former mayor of Johannesburg who resigned from both his mayoralty and his membership of the DA

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