In an effort to re-emphasise former statesman and President Nelson Mandela’s values, including the core value of continuing the struggle for a better South Africa, civil society organisations the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation (AKF) and Save South Africa (SaveSA) will celebrate Mandela Day on Tuesday by hosting a conference to build a new broad front against State capture.
The Conference for the Future of South Africa will take place at the Rhema Bible Church in Randburg, in Johannesburg.
Delegations from Gauteng, the Western Cape, and SaveSA delegations from the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal have confirmed their attendance.
Representatives from labour, business, faith-based organisations, and organisations representing other sectoral interests including groups such as the South African Women’s Coalition and the African National Congress Stalwarts are also expected to attend.
“We believe that the Conference for the Future of South Africa is an initiative that all South Africans should take seriously – a landmark in our nation’s strong history of civic activism, the struggle against wrongdoing, and the quest for a more equal, more just and more honest society than the one we live in now,” said AKF and SaveSA in a joint statement.
A range of eminent South Africans with experience and exposure to State capture will be in attendance. This will include the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa chairperson Popo Molefe, a representative from the South African Broadcasting Corporation 8 journalists, and African National Congress MP Makhosi Khoza.
The organisations says MPs are also invited to join the gathering as Parliament is one of the most important sites of the struggle at present, especially as the vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma approaches on the August 8.
“We will be making the 8th of August a particular focus in our action planning, and we will look at how we demonstrate to members of parliament that South Africans expect them to do the right thing when they vote – and vote to get Zuma removed from office,” AKF and SaveSA said.
The organisations are also crafting an action plan to deal with the immediate crisis, known as State capture.
Organisations that are not yet part of the formation are encouraged to join the conference.
“The Conference for the Future of South Africa is a landmark event, and we encourage organisations that are not yet part of our process to join us – if not tomorrow, then further down the road -- as we build a non-partisan civil society, with maximum unity, in the interests of all South Africans,” invited AKF and SaveSA.
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