The original Codesa achieved its aim of shepherding the country to democracy, but it definitely left unfinished business.
The list of “eminent persons” who will “champion and guide” President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national dialogue reads like a “Who’s Who” of this country’s “nice people”.
Lest that sound a little cynical, we will acknowledge that the delegates to this “national convention” do seem the types who can put petty party politics aside and make the future of the country their priority.
They come from across the spectrum of South African life, from Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, to Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman and will, presumably, bring a broad range of opinions to the debate.
What we’re not getting are loudmouth politicians like Julius Malema, who have quickly dismissed Ramaphosa’s idea as a form of political theatre.
Now that can be good – because the extremist views will be absent or at least muted – or bad – because, like it or not, populist politicians who like to sound radical or revolutionary do have appeal for a mass market.
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Some are billing the gathering – in both positive and negative senses – as “Codesa 2” in reference to the original Codesa (the Convention for a Democratic South Africa), which helped steer the country to democracy after long and arduous talks in the 1990s.
The original Codesa achieved its aim of shepherding the country to democracy, but it definitely left unfinished business – such as the issue of land – which have returned to haunt South Africa.
If this Codesa 2 is to succeed, however, it must, this time around, give more attention to the hopes and fears of the black majority, rather than reassuring whites that everything will be fine in the future.
As it was in the 1990s, right-wingers are the fly in the ointment, with their revved-up aims to achieve “de-centralisation” and “self-government”.
The national convention has to satisfy multiple different constituencies. And that won’t be easy.
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