SALDRU and the African Leadership Initiative (ALI) have entered a collaboration to host three pre-conference policy dialogues to raise awareness of key issues that the Government of National Unity (GNU) of South Africa need to be aware of as we embark upon the most important 5-year period of the democratic dispensation. These three workshops will act to raise awareness and promote SALDRU’s South Africa at 30 Years of Democracy conference, which will be held from April 2-4, 2025.
The first of these policy dialogues was held on the 6th of November with the title: “Reflecting on 30 years of democracy in SA – What sacred policy cows need to be revisited to unlock South Africa’s potential?” The panel consisted of SALDRU’s Director – Prof. Reza Daniels; former Deputy Governor of the SA Reserve Bank – Kuben Naidoo; former Advisor to the President of South Africa – Trudi Makhaya; former CEO of the Firstrand Banking Group – Sizwe Nxasana; and current Chief Executive Officer of Business Unity South Africa – Khulekani Mathe. The dialogue was facilitated by multi-award-winning South African editor and journalist, and current Associate Editor of the Daily Maverick – Ferial Haffajee.
The focus of the discussion was to reflect on South Africa’s 30 years of democracy, specifically the policies that need to be revisited in order to transform the various sectors within South Africa to accelerate a thriving economy. Ferial presented the panel with tough questions about which levers could disproportionately catalyse economic and employment growth, and how and whether these could lead to sustained positive change in the country. Do we have the right governance mechanisms to implement policies effectively? And if so, why haven’t existing policies been implemented to the extent that they should be implemented?
While this constructive engagement solicited various responses, both from the panel and later from the audience, everyone recognized the importance of the new Government of National Unity and the opening of the policy space in the country. It was felt that this political leadership must now open up new pathways to economic development. The importance of prioritizing programs for the unemployed, small-business finance, and the informal sector were seen as just as important as the big questions of inflation targeting monetary policy, labour market regulation, education and service delivery, and the like.
The dialogue was part of a series of three leading up to SALDRU’s own conference taking place April 2-4, 2025. The Call for Contributions is still open until December 31st, 2024. Contributors are invited to make submissions on what SA has achieved over the last years, and can focus on a variety of socio-economic themes. The broad objectives for each day of the conference include:
- Day 1: Looking back: Where have we made progress and where have we faltered?
- Day 2: What are the major binding constraints and how do we overcome them in the next 5 years?
- Day 3: Blue Sky thinking: Where must South Africa be in 30 years’ time?
Contributions are invited from all stakeholders and can include opinion pieces, research abstracts, posters of research results, research papers, and thought leadership articles. We also invite stakeholders to suggest policy dialogues and invited paper suggestions on key themes. The conference will be based at the University of Cape Town. It will be an in-person event, though presenters will be permitted to present online should they not be able to travel to Cape Town. Registration will be open in January 2025 and announced publicly on the SALDRU website. In the meantime, please email questions and contributions to sa30@uct.ac.za
Images from the policy dialogue
