Urgent Call to South Africans for National Dialogue as Former Presidents Convene

As announced by the Thabo Mbeki Foundation last month, several foundations will convene on Friday to hold their inaugural dialogue: “Why does South Africa need a National Dialogue? A Call to the Nation.”

It will be the first time in history that three former South African presidents – Thabo Mbeki, FW De Klerk and Kgalema Motlanthe – as well as Former Deputy-President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka – will gather together to discuss the “crisis” facing South Africa – from a nation so divided, to rising crime, falling employment and a overhanging mood of despair and foreboding.

The four former statesmen will address the inaugural meeting to “provide a safe non-partisan platform to South Africans of all races to confront the crisis in political governance, the toxic political environment and state of the economy”.

The event will be held at Wits University’s Senate House on Friday the 5th of May 2017, at 10am, and will be the first of a series of dialogues across the country.

The National Foundation Dialogue Initiative (NFDI) is an initiative of the Chief Albert Luthuli Foundation, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Foundation, Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, Thabo Mbeki Foundation, F W de Klerk Foundation, Umlambo Foundation, Helen Suzman Foundation and the Jakes Gerwel Foundation.

These Foundations say they are deeply concerned about the state of South Africa and its young democracy.

In their opinion, the challenges the country is currently facing, need to be attended to as a matter of urgency.

In a statement, NFDI said: “From the onset of our constitutional dispensation South Africa has and continues to face enormous challenges which can only be resolved through our collective efforts.

“The challenges relate to issues of political governance and leadership, the state of our economy and its failure to respond to the urgent needs of the population, the moral decay in society, and most importantly social and national cohesion.

“These challenges have generated a national crisis which negatively affects our young democracy.

“The Foundations have therefore come to the firm conclusion that it is both necessary and urgent that all South Africans engage one another in a national dialogue, to arrive at a renewed national consensus to address this national crisis.”

All South Africans are called on to participate in and rally behind this Initiative to find lasting solutions to the challenges facing their beloved country.

The discussions will be uploaded to YouTube and the NFDI will publish the outcomes of each session, as well as a final report.