'It’s a historic and exciting moment,' says independent national convention chair William Gumede

Crafting a collective vision for South Africa is one of the things independent national convention chair William Gumede will look out for as he facilitates the two-day discussions.

Gumede on Wednesday told the media that the national convention was a “historic” moment because different political parties — the DA, IFP, FF Plus, ActionSA, United Independent Movement, Spectrum National Party and Isanco — have gathered to forge a pact with the intention to unseat the ANC ahead of an election. 

“This is the beginning of a historic moment for us in South Africa. The first time that a coalition pact is being negotiated prior to an election, it’s a moment to reimagine South Africa, retell our story and narrative in a much more positive and hopeful way,” said Gumede.

The two-day meeting takes place at Emperors Palace, where the Codesa negotiations took place in 1991 and 1992 and mapped a way forward for the country between minority rule and constitutional democracy. 

Gumede applauded the maturity shown by the leaders participating in the dialogue.

“I think the maturity of the leaders of the opposition parties to invite an outsider in is a newfound maturity. It’s a critical moment for South Africa and the opposition because the quality of a democracy is measured by the quality of the opposition.”

Gumede said many asked him why he would “risk his reputation” or be associated with chairing such a meeting. 

“In mature democracies, this is not unusual. Often some of the big coalitions in Western Europe, when there is a deadlock after the elections, they bring in an outsider to help facilitate a process. It is obviously unusual in a South African context, but in a democracy it is not.”

This, he said, shows that South Africa’s democracy is beginning to mature. 

Setting the scene for the two-day discussions, Gumede said the aim was to try to bring the seven political parties together in an agreement. 

“It’s extraordinary because normally these sorts of things happen after the elections and not before the elections. That, for me, makes it a very exciting process for South Africa, and in other developing countries people are watching and will learn from what we are doing. 

“The convention is not against something but to build a coalition, to generate hope for a better South Africa, good governance and capable delivery.”

Gumede said this is what he will be looking out for as he chairs the discussions and proceedings. 

“We will try to agree on a core minimum vision for South Africa. Obviously, in any negotiation parties cannot always agree, there is always a give and take and compromises, but it’s important to have a platform.”

On the name of the agreement, informally referred to as the moonshot pact, he said: “We are not going to the moon. The group will have to come up with a name which is acceptable to all of the parties. There is going to be a conversation around that.”

The discussions will engage on how it plans to manage the non-participation of other parties. 

“If this is the core group, then what about the other opposition parties? Part of my message as the independent chairperson is to engage with some of the opposition parties that are not part of the opposition group.”

Gumede said the ideas discussed during these two days may not be realistically possible but the aim of the meeting is to get a joint position in relation to the ongoing national coalition dialogue facilitated by Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s office.

“We need to know what the group’s thinking would be, what their ideas are and what would be the governing principles of the coalition. Many coalitions that have failed at a local government level have failed because parties did not have a set of governing principles.” 

Gumede said establishing a common ground for solutions for South Africa would be important. 

“I hope we will have a public agreement, that will be transparently showed to the public and where parties will pledge or be held accountable, because it is pointless sitting here for two days and reaching an agreement but there is no accountability.”

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