National Dialogue

Many people refer to the realisation of a democratic constitutional order in South Africa as a miracle. It was not. It was the result of painstakingly difficult work, leadership in negotiations, and a commitment to manage and resolve one of the most intractable political problems of the modern era: the transformation of the apartheid state to a state which is democratic. In the final analysis it was the result of faith in a democratic constitutional order.

Democracy is not an event; it is a process. An unfortunate reality of politics today is that less and less attention is paid to the procedural aspects of conflict management and democratic consolidation. In Africa almost 50% of peace agreements signed have collapsed within five years, sending countries spiraling back into conflict. Perhaps in a rush to sign peace agreements, we are losing the essence of what creates and consolidates sustainable peace.

Leaders in countries in transition face a range of intractable problems and volatile situations. The stakes are high, the nation is fragmented and the risk is that political and economic crisis becomes the norm. With this in minds, we host dialogue for leaders of national influence to reflect on the evolution of our young democracy and share these lessons with South Africans and with the international community.

A facilitated process, accessing the experiences and know-how of participants, allows an accurate picture of the societal ‘puzzle’ to emerge.

We work with a range of international and local partners to share the successes and the failures of the South African transition.
In concrete terms we:

host strategic conversations on South Africa’s current situation and future potential
work with international clients and partners from countries in transition to host their groups and share lessons from South Africa’s successes and failures over the last 15 years.
Identify a range of South Africa’s leaders with experience in transitional and constitutional processes who are willing to share their experience with countries in need
have high level ability to facilitate a range of dialogue methods amongst diverse local and international participants