The project to fix South Africa must be fought on all fronts
23 January 2020
Since our resignation from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in October last year, there has been a great deal of speculation about our individual and shared political futures. It is important that we clarify a number of points in this regard.
We both resigned from the DA after we independently came to the conclusion that it is no longer the vehicle that can fix and build an inclusive South Africa.
Shortly after his resignation, Herman embarked on a project that resulted in the launch of The People’s Dialogue on the 6th of December 2019, a registered Non-Profit Company that seeks to give ordinary South Africans and civil society from across the country a voice in shaping a shared future for South Africa. Since its launch, over 13.7 million South Africans have been reached across various social media platforms, resulting in close to 1 million engagements with people who are expressing their views on the future of our Country.
The message from the participants in the initiative has been clear. While dialogue is important, it must lead to action and a viable political alternative. As such, Herman has made the decision to move towards the formation of a new political party that could contest the Local Government Elections in 2021.
Simultaneously, Mmusi has focused on the establishment of a Movement for One South Africa, an initiative seeking to build a broad coalition of political parties and civil society formations around a shared set of values and principles that could collectively work to fix South Africa and realise our country’s potential.
Mmusi has spent the past three months traversing the country, engaging potential allies, and mobilising community support. Similarly to Herman, he has experienced the frustration felt by ordinary South Africans from all walks of live who believe that the current political system has failed them.
Both initiatives have the common goal of fixing our country and building a South Africa that works for all its people.
Importantly, we do not see these as competing initiatives, but rather complementary ones. While Herman is focussed on building a political party that can contest Local Government elections in 2021, Mmusi is dedicated to the objective of building a national movement that can unite forces to fix our country.
Given our shared objective, and the importance we both afford to the voices of ordinary South Africans and civil society, we have been sharing ideas and seeking areas for future co-operation. These constructive engagements have served to highlight various commonalities between our respective efforts, as well as areas for collaboration.
As part of these engagements, the formation of the new political party is also under discussion although these discussions are at a very early stage. The Movement for One South Africa will continue its work to bring change and sees no clash of ideas with the project being undertaken by Herman. Our engagements will continue as we work to fix our country and bring the change we need.
We would like to emphasise that we have the deepest respect for one another and continue support each other’s respective, independent efforts to deliver real, transformational change in South Africa.
Ultimately, the objective of fixing South Africa only be achieved through the collective efforts of all those who stand opposed to corruption and stand for the vision of a South Africa that works for all its people.
Issued by Herman Mashaba, Founder, The People’s Dialogue, 23 January 2020
