Letters

Reflections on the National Dialogue Convention

Solutions to problems

ADVOCATE RANJIV NIRGHIN|Published

At the National Dialogue in Pretoria were, standing from left, Yuvan Shunmugam, Brij Maharaj and Ranjiv Nirghin from the South African Hindu Maha Sabha, and Ela Gandhi, seated, from the Eminent Persons Group.

Image: Supplied

I ATTENDED the National Convention, on August 15 and 16, in Pretoria as the President of the South African Hindu Maha together with Prof Brij Maharaj, Dr Aarthi Panday and Dr Yuvan Shunmugam as the four invited delegates from the South African Hindu Maha.

The National Convention was an introduction to the citizen led, nonpartisan National Dialogue that is set to take place in South Africa, where every South African who has an interest in the future of South Africa and our people will have an opportunity to articulate what we think are the problems that we face and what we believe are the solutions to our problems.

This National Convention was facilitated by the government to initiate the framework for how we, as ordinary South Africans, will raise our concerns and offer our solutions.

As a citizen lead National Dialogue all South Africans have an opportunity to raise these concerns and offer solutions directly via the National Dialogue portal either directly as an individual or via meetings in social and community groups, in places of worship in areas of sports and recreation, in schools, in wards, in any formation that one is comfortable in raising these issues and offering solutions.

Tool kits will be available, and facilitators will be trained on how to conduct National Dialogue workshops and consultations, and how the information will be fed back and collated into a social compact that can be used by the government and the citizens to guide our future conduct in resolving the problems we face.

Through the brief engagements in preparation for the broader National Dialogue, I was able to establish that many of our problems are common. The majority of our South African citizens feel excluded, alienated and ignored by our government, and the issues that we face are not limited to a specific sector or a specific group of people; it is common, irrespective of our race, ability, faith or economic standing.

Notwithstanding some reservations, organisations and groups opted to participate so that their concerns would be organised and structured, offering the government of the day an opportunity to implement citizen-led solutions to our problems.

A lot of the work, consulting as many South Africans as possible in the National Dialogue process, will take place in the next nine months, and all South Africans are invited to be part of the process and the solution to our daily problems.

ADVOCATE RANJIV NIRGHIN

President, South African Hindu Maha Sabha

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

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