National Dialogue? The Tribe Has Already Spoken!

South Africa is already united on one issue – that the ANC is rotten and it must go.

Photo by Adam Wilson on Unsplash

Written by: Vivienne Vermaak

The National Dialogue has been confirmed to take place from 15 to 17 August 2025 at the ZK Matthews Hall, University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria. This historic gathering is aimed at bringing together representatives of all sectors of the South African society, including government, political parties, civil society, traditional leaders, youth, religious groups, business, labour, academia, and government to reflect on the state of the nation and begin reimagining the future of our democracy.

While much speculation and concern have been raised as to the alleged R700 million budget the project is rumoured to cost, there are questions about whether it is a worthwhile exercise at all. If the government is still confused as to what the people are saying, they don't need a convention; they just need to open their ears. The people have reflected; the people have spoken.

This is what they said, provided here for free, addressing main agenda items:

Governance, accountability, and participatory democracy

"Stop stealing, stop hiding money in your sofa, stop the corruption, stop the endless deflection in countless committees of enquiries and conventions." That is the combined message of a street-level dialogue. It is echoed at the boardroom level and shouted from the rooftops. It reverberates towards our leaders via civil society, social media and most importantly, the dwindling support for the ANC at elections. They have gone from 57.5% in the polls to falling below 40% in the latest general elections. I am not sure how much more of a participative democracy you want than a free and fair election. That is not a dialogue, it is a signal flare; the tribe has spoken.

Social cohesion and nation building

South Africa is already united on one issue – that the ANC is rotten and it must go. The only other instance where the nation is more unified on a topic is when the Springboks win the Rugby World Cup trophy. We have been living together in freedom for 30 years. The transition to a democratic country has been peaceful. We are socially cohesive. Simunye, simunye – we are one. Various surveys and polls indicate that South Africans agree on the most important things: we want jobs, security, and clean governance. The nation has been built. To prevent it from being destroyed, we don't need more unity; we need more jobs. The quickest way for you to get more votes is to create an environment where more jobs will follow. Jobs = votes, get it?

Economic transformation and job creation

As per the previous point, the most significant transformation will take place when we create the environment for economic growth. When this united socially cohesive nation is allowed to create its own jobs, not just rely on government, change will follow, within months, according to economists. Remove all the complicated rules for doing business, relax enforcement on BEE requirements, and start boxing smarter with important trade partners like the US. The beautiful work the ANC has done in uniting the nation will come to fruition when the economy grows. We, the people, thank you for creating this wonderful democracy, but let us take it from here. It's been a long walk to freedom, but it is now time to run. Economic freedom is achieved more efficiently by responsible governance and less interventionist policies. We must get out of our people's way. They are already showing us the way in eKasi style economics.

Poverty, inequality and hunger

Watch these things dissolve or dilute when economic growth is allowed to happen. South Africans are brimming with common sense and common purpose. Most people understand that change takes time and that life is uneven. A rising tide, even with turbulence, will lift all ships. Economic growth, more than national dialogue, will lift more people. The poor will do what they must to survive, and it won't be pretty. "If they don't eat, we won't sleep." The political upper classes fiddle while the fires start. The dark mutterings of the people rise like flames while the pleas fall on closed ears. No amount of dialogue will open the ears of those who wish to remain deaf. Catered for cadres will sit at a convention while the pitchforks start advancing. They will order a cappuccino and dessert while wondering how it got to this.

Instead of talking about it the government might be best advised to take the rumoured R700 million and create jobs directly,. Real jobs, new jobs, not another distribution opportunity to the eminent elite. Wait, no. Just leave that money and do nothing, lest another committee is created to discuss how to not spend the R700 million and we end up paying R800 million instead. Do nothing. Cut some red tape, that is all we want. You can do it over a Zoom call or a WhatsApp.

The rallying call for the National Dialogue event is: “Let us come together to shape the South Africa we want. Uniting Voices, Shaping the Nation”. Hear our voice! If you want to shape the nation, YOU shape up or ship out. Anything that had to be said has already been said. The time for talking is over. The time for jobs is here. Ke Nako! It is time! Let’s get South Africa working.

Vivienne Vermaak is an award-winning investigative journalist, writer and public speaker. Vivienne is a Senior Associate of The Free Market Foundation.