The dialogue took place at a symbolic retreat Liliesleaf, Rivonia, to discuss ways to ensure that civil society, business and government continue to find ways to walk together through sustained collaboration and dialogue.
South Africans from all walks of life have been calling for some time now for creative ways to assist the country to overcome various challenges. This national dialogue is the cumulation of the four Finding Ways to Walk Together regional dialogues, and builds on the momentum that has been created by other dialogue initiatives, such as the National Social Cohesion Summit in Kliptown on 4-6 July 2012, the National Planning Commission’s consultations, and various other ongoing citizen-driven dialogue efforts at various levels, such as the Citizens Movement for Social Change, Partnerships for Possibilities. These initiatives now need to be connected and woven into a national dialogue and cohesion infrastructure.
This dialogue, which aimed to strengthen existing efforts to help the nation succeed, took place on 25-26 July 2012 at Liliesleaf, Rivonia, to discuss ways to ensure that civil society, business and government continue to find ways to walk together through sustained collaboration and dialogue.
Among the participants was Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, anti-apartheid activist leader of The Citizen’s Movement for Social Change; Dr. Brigalia Bam, the Secretary-General of the South African Council of Churches; Roelf Meyer, South African politician and participants from the regional dialogues. They were joined by Club de Madrid Board Member Ketumile Masire, President of Botswana (1980-1998) who supports South African efforts to promote shared societies.
The Finding Ways to Walk Together dialogue initiative is a partnership between the Shared Societies Project of the Club de Madrid, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) and Idasa as local partners, and a core group comprising The Citizen’s Movement for Social Change, Dynamic Stability, the Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust, and the Africa Centre for Dispute Resolution of the Stellenbosch University School of Business.
With financial support from the European Union Delegation in the Republic of South Africa.
- Download the program
- Speech by President Ketumile Masire
