SAns urged to be more active citizens & contribute towards rebuilding country

JOHANNESBURG - While next week’s National Dialogue is likely to add pressure on government’s growing to-do list, ordinary South Africans are also being urged to pick up the slack and contribute towards rebuilding the country.

This, as those gathered for 702’s inaugural People’s Dialogue called for a closing of the social gaps and for more South Africans to meet each other halfway.

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Next week is likely to bring into sharp focus the many wrongs that have transpired since the dawn of democracy.

It will also be an opportunity to once more build a consensus on the way forward.

In just three hours, South Africans held a robust conversation, weighing in on the country’s challenges, while at the same time, proposing possible solutions.

All of this was aimed at getting the country closer to Vision 2030 as laid out in the National Development Plan (NPD).

The NDP, which was drafted well over a decade ago, has hit many hurdles and now seems further away from achieving its goal of improving the socioeconomic conditions in the country.

Those in attendance called for more active citizenry.

"What we have done in our space is to say we are the government, the people of Tembisa. That's why we said no to the fixed tariff, because we attended to the NERSA [National Energy Regulator of South Africa] public consultation in November last year. We made our input," said the chairperson of Ubuntu Culture and Heritage Foundation, Mudwa Khumalo.

Khumalo added that young people must understand how policies shape their environments and then become part of the change they wish to see.