UWC’s Special Annual Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Lecture Explores 30 Years of Democracy and Future Post-2024 Elections
The possible results of the elections were at the centre of discussions at the 8th Annual Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust Lecture Series.
Hosted at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) by the Faculty of Economic Management Sciences, the theme this year was: “An assessment of the leadership in the South African Presidency: Towards the next 30 years of democracy.” Crystal Abdoll (Director of the Western Cape Liquor Authority and Audit Committee member of the City of Cape Town), Professor Cherrel Africa (Associate Professor of Political Studies at UWC) and Lawson Naidoo (Executive Secretary of the The Council for The Advancement of the South African Constitution)
The panel included Lawson Naidoo (Executive Secretary of the The Council for The Advancement of the South African Constitution), Professor Cherrel Africa (Associate Professor of Political Studies at UWC) and Crystal Abdoll (Director of the Western Cape Liquor Authority and Audit Committee member of the City of Cape Town).
In opening the stage for debate, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, who is also the Chancellor of UWC said: “Somebody, recently in Makhanda…asked me: ‘Arch, who is not corrupt? I am going to find it very hard to vote this year.’”
He added: “Eight years ago, when the religious leaders marched on a Walk of Witness to Parliament, I deplored the lack of trust between political leaders and the people or our country.”
Naidoo also spoke about the lack of ethical and trustworthy leadership and how this affects governance and service delivery.
“We need what the National Development Plan calls a capable state and something that many Presidents over the years have expressed a commitment towards achieving. But, I think what we’ve seen with the state of NSFAS and what we’re likely to see with the state of an NHI infrastructure that is centrally controlled, is that we don’t have a capable state that is able to deliver,” he said.
Referencing the King IV Report on Governance, Abdoll said: “If we look at where we were, say 20 years ago, and where we are today, I think there is an absence of purpose-driven leadership. It’s informed and shaped by something that’s bigger than me, something that’s outside of me, something that speaks to this bigger purpose, and I think that this is missing.”
Cooperation and consensus across party lines for the benefit of the state was also discussed at the lecture and Prof Africa noted that while political leaders have spoken about coalition agreements, little progress has been made.
Last year, UWC hosted the first-ever National Dialogue on Coalition Governments. The aim was to establish a framework that would assist in managing coalition governments at national, provincial and metro levels in SA.
Professor Africa said: “The reason they (political party leaders) came together was because they recognised that there is the potential to slip into a jostling, chaotic, unstable mode of coalition arrangements and it was a very heartening and robust discussion … .one of the principles spoken about was to not leave the citizens behind and that citizens need to be at the heart of coalition arrangements.”
Consensus amongst the panel was that South African leaders need to be focused on speeding up service delivery and eliminating corruption in all spheres of government.