SAns at 702’s People’s Dialogue voice concerns about issues plaguing country
Radio 702 on Wednesday morning is holding its own conversations, getting a sense of the nation’s pulse ahead of government’s National Dialogue, which kicks off next week.
Radio 702’s People’s Dialogue. Picture: X/Radio702
JOHANNESBURG - Materialism, a lack of patriotism, and an inability to understand one another beyond race and class disparities – these are just some of the concerns plaguing South Africans who’ve turned up at 702’s People’s Dialogue.
Radio 702 on Wednesday morning is holding its own conversations, getting a sense of the nation’s pulse ahead of government’s National Dialogue, which kicks off next week.
Some of the issues raised include unemployment, economic transformation, and crime.
Just days before the inaugural National Dialogue, 702 has gathered South Africans from across all walks of life, who are currently grappling with the many challenges facing the country, with most in the room expressing frustration with corruption that’s not being tackled sufficiently.
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA)’s Julius Kleynhans said laws and policies, and even the various commissions, were not the problem.
"It's really a lack of political will. Corruption is not being defeated by new frameworks, it's thriving because of the absence of consequence, and I think that is."
Another listener, who described himself as a concerned citizen and father, said it’s not enough to speak about corruption – people have to see action being taken.
"Get more police on the ground and also to train them in a different way to be custodians of law enforcement and love for people and the country."
Some listeners have placed the rot firmly at the door of politicians in the country, saying those entrusted with leadership were also not patriotic.