The national dialogue needs buy-in from South Africans to be successful

On the 15th of August, the very first iteration of a series of conversations, which are promoted as citizen-led efforts towards forging a new social compact, will begin. This follows the agreements outlined in the statement of intent from the government of national unity formed after last year’s election.

What does the national dialogue entail, and why should we all partake?

The national dialogue is fashioned as a long-needed nationwide consultation to reimagine what South Africa’s future should look like for the next 30 years. The dialogue is envisioned as a space for citizens to convene with hopes of coming up with solutions for the country’s persistent wicked problems, these include poverty, inequality, crime, corruption, and gender based violence, to mention a few. The series of conversations will be carried out in different iterations, with the process concluding in March 2026, following nationwide consultation with all relevant stakeholders (business, government, civil society).

Between August 2025 and then, various discussions will be carried out in all corners of the country, with the process of selection for an eminent persons group being formed and finalised in June. It is believed that this group, in addition to the selected task team, the inter-ministerial committee, steering Committee and the secretariat, will be key in carrying out the following tasks. According to Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni’s 2025 Budget Vote speech,  the 15th of August will be a gathering of about 1000 delegates who will set the agenda, determining the process of engagement. This will be followed by 13400 ward-based community dialogues leading to the establishment of an online platform intended to reach “no less than 2,5 million citizens”. These will then expand to fully fledged, smaller engagements with communities in various areas of interest. The ultimate objective of the dialogue is the formulation of a new social compact and implementation plan similar to the National Development Plan formulation process.

Areas of contention and dwindling public participation in South Africa

While a lot of media attention has been directed at the projected R700 million figure that will be spent on the realisation of this dialogue, many have echoed how this seems to be a hefty price for a process that does not yield much confidence in South Africans. Particularly young South Africans, whose voter turnout has declined over the years, signalling growing voter apathy and disillusionment with public participation. Furthermore, we have observed a growing decline in public participation among South Africans.

One can use various examples to illustrate how public participation processes requiring input from citizens often find themselves hijacked by private interests. Particularly innstances where highly contentious policy documents are proposed. Civil society organisations such as the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance (SAAPA) have detailed their long and arduous fight towards getting the Draft Liquor Amendment Bill of 2016 passed. In one of their reports released earlier this year, they detail how the alcohol industry has used various tactics to delay the implementation of this bill, which will regulate the advertising and sale of alcohol in our communities.

Common tactics include disproportionate representation of the alcohol industry bodies versus community members whose interests are centred on collective needs and a strong need to support laws that will make it possible for alcohol related harms to be reduced. Similarly with the Tobacco Bill, the tobacco industry has relied on textbook delay tactics to buy itself time, while public hearings have been postponed with no indication of when the process will resume. Organisations such as  Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) have been leading the fight in getting the public participation process for this Bill to be carried out in a democratic manner.

Healthy public participation where citizens are given a voice and contentious issues are debated, and a consensus is reached, is a great indication of a healthy democracy. However, in recent years, public participation in South Africa has dwindled. Citizens have cited challenges with accessing information in a timely manner, and the government has also failed to deliver on its mandate of making public participation easily accessible.

While IDP processes in local government cite other challenges. This indicates that there is a greater need for carrying out public dialogues or community meetings and gathering citizens for large-scale discussion requires a greater level of coordination, concerted effort and innovation while ensuring inclusion is maintained. It cannot be that those in rural areas cannot form part of critical discussions because they are out of reach. However, one cannot fall short of instances to use in illustrating the current public participation sphere.

Despite expressions of being left behind in crucial public participation processes, South Africans will find a way to make their voices known, and usually, service delivery protests remain the major form of resistance in townships and rural areas. Oftentimes, this remains the only resort for citizens to express their discontent with the current state of affairs. In addition to the growing levels of low voter turnout, these are some of the means we can use to interpret the decline of public participation. However, one can argue that choosing not to vote and participation in protests is a form of informal participation.

With this context in mind, one wonders how the mammoth task of organising South Africans from all corners of the country for the national dialogue will pan out. While our country is rich with a history of civic organising, such processes have led to the robust formulation of crucial documents such as the National Development Plan (NDP), devised as a strategic document entailing plans to eliminate poverty and inequality by 2030. This document, adopted in 2012 through multisectoral engagements between business, government, and civil society, was achieved through a process of various talk shops set up across the country.

However, with 2025 marking five years until the NDP reaches its expiry date, poverty and inequality continue to run rampant, efforts undertaken since have fallen short of realising a better South Africa as imagined thirteen years ago. For the processes that will resume in the next month, what should be done differently?

Currently dominant issues that need strategic intervention from the government range from high unemployment, particularly among the youth, crime and high levels of inequality. While the legacies of apartheid spatial planning continue to shape the everyday lives of South Africans, the lack of redress in this manner is also fuelling a type of rage in South Africans. The results from last year’s elections illustrate this. Citizens are becoming more fed up with the high levels of corruption coupled with the slow pace of consequence management and accountability enforcement. We have all witnessed the slow pace with which our leaders move to persecute those who squander state resources; instead, lengthy commissions of inquiry are set up.

We need to start cultivating spaces of healthy dialogue in our communities.

The article has demonstrated how private interests threaten spaces of public participation in the policymaking processes, further arguing that for a healthy democracy to exist, there has to be a greater existence of dialogue and inclusion of different voices in the public sphere. South Africa has a rich history of civic organising where community leaders such as amakomiti (ward committees), have contributed to the process of policymaking, ensuring engagements are rich with grassroots evidence and participation. However, currently, we are seeing different interest groups excluded from these key processes, especially the youth.

Young people make up the biggest part of the population in this country, and no child should be left behind. The growing levels of disillusionment among young people serve as a direct threat to our democracy. Already, we are witnessing a rapid increase in the radicalisation of online communities, particularly young people, into right-wing conservatism. Plenty of spaces that once existed, that were robust for civic engagement, seem to be missing the mark. While organisations such as Activate Change Drivers do their part in activating young people around the country, more still needs to be done to instil a greater sense of active citizenry among young people.

There are plenty of spaces which exist where young people should fight for their voices to be heard, the upcoming G20 engagements, the national dialogue, and mobilisation efforts for the 2026 local government elections. All these processes should not only be seen as talk shops, rather as sites where critical discussion, which will lead to tangible change, are had. The processes of forging a new social compact should be spearheaded and led by those who get to live in this country in the next 30 years, while unemployment figures paint a grim picture. It is such issues that the youth should be organising on and forging solutions to.

—————————

References:

Alcohol Industry Involvement Delayed The 2016 Draft Liquour Amendment Bill New Research Exposes Tactics by SAAPA. 04 April 2025. https://saapa.africa/alcohol-industry-involvement-delayed-the-2016-draft-liquor-amendment-bill-new-research-exposes-tactics/

Dilemmas of public participation in policymaking in South Africa by Umoh, Samuel Uwem for Public Policy Studies. Studia z Polityki Publicznej, vol. 9, no. 4, 2022. https://www.redalyc.org/journal/6637/663773655001/663773655001.pdf

Draft Liquor Amendment Bill, September 2016. Department of Trade and Industry. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201609/40319gon1206.pdf

HAWKS & IPID update on investigations resulting from Zondo Commission; Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (implementation & regulations); with Minister and Deputy Minister by Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG). 14 June 2023. https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/37240/

IEC budget cuts a threat to our democracy, by Sheilan Clarke for My Vote Counts. 10 May 2022. https://myvotecounts.org.za/iec-budget-cuts-a-threat-to-our-democracy-mvc/

Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni: The Presidency Dept Budget Vote 2025/26. 17 July 2025. https://www.gov.za/news/speeches/minister-khumbudzo-ntshavheni-presidency-dept-budget-vote-202526-17-jul-2025

National Dialogue. https://www.stateofthenation.gov.za/national-dialogue

National Dialogue: More Details Emerge During Presidential Budget Vote Debate. SA Legal Academy. 17 July 2025. https://legalacademy.co.za/news/read/national-dialogue-more-details-emerge-during-presidential-budget-vote-debate

Ramaphosa names 31 ’eminent people’ to champion national dialogue. National convention on August 15 will set the agenda. By Ernest Mabuza for Timeslive. 10 June 2025. https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2025-06-10-ramaphosa-names-31-eminent-people-to-champion-national-dialogue/

South Africa’s Youth in the Labour Market: A Decade in Review. Statistics South Africa. https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=18398#:~:text=Education%20continues%20to%20play%20a,reduced%20to%2037%2C3%25.

The National Development Plan. Our Future- Make it Work. National Planning Commission. The Presidency. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/ndp-2030-our-future-make-it-workr.pdf  

—————————

About the Author:

Thabisile Miya is a member of the Activate Change Drivers Writing Hub, she is a Master’s candidate in the field of governance and public policy at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is passionate about digital media and advocacy.