When it became clear in the 1980s that exclusively white political power in South Africa was untenable, a vigorous discourse — a national dialogue — sprang up in civil society. It involved politicians, trade unions, big business, chambers of commerce, NGOs, lawyers, playwrights and of course a media that was increasingly diverse, confident and challenging.
Politically, between 1990 and 1994, the National Party and the ANC performed an elaborate dialogue dance. As senior Nat politician Pik Botha neatly put it: “We [the NP] are trying to avoid transitional government by stealth; they [the ANC] are trying to avoid co-option by stealth.”
Each side was terrified of being seen to concede too much, but also of being obdurate. It would be seen on both sides as a betrayal to negotiate with the enemy — hence the word games: “We are not ‘talking’ — we are talking about talks.”
That led to the Convention for a Democratic South Africa, which in turn resulted in democratic elections and the first government of national unity.
We already have a mechanism, provided by our constitution, for an ongoing national dialogue. It is called parliament, with a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. In the executive, we have a GNU. For the crucial interactions between business and the state, we have the National Economic Development & Labour Council, and presidential working groups.
We don’t need another national dialogue. We need to do things that have long been agreed.
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