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Former President Thabo Mbeki says more than thirty years into democracy, the country finds itself in need of urgent intervention amidst ongoing poor governance issues and a number of crises. Mbeki was speaking at the Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha during the launch of the National Dialogue in the Eastern Cape Higher Education sector. The event brought together academics, students, and policymakers to reflect on how the higher education sector can help to rebuild the country. Mbeki calls on South Africa’s intellectuals, universities and civic leaders to take the lead in finding practical answers to the country’s crises. A call for the country’s thinkers to move beyond wishlists – and to lead the search for practical answers and solutions. The former statesman told delegates that the National Dialogue must become a space for citizens to confront the country’s crises head-on, from corruption and unemployment to the erosion of civic trust. “If you look at South Africa at the age of thirty, the economy is in crisis, the politics are in crisis, crime and corruption crisis, even our relations with the rest of the continent are in crisis, there is nothing you can look at in South Africa at thirty which does not say crisis. So, I made my comments last year by which time all of the election manifestos by the countries that were contesting in the May elections were out, so I looked at them and I said no, we are not going to get answers from any of these manifestos about these critical challenges,” says Mbeki. Mbeki’s address, themed “Making Sense of the National Dialogue – A People in Conversation,” outlines the purpose of the national process. He says while political parties make promises, it is society’s thinkers who must find the how. “It’s the beginning of a different process not just to discuss the state of affairs but to discuss the question what does our intelligence do practically to answer the question about all of the different crisis that are grappling our country, because it has that responsibility because this is the only body of people in the country that can legitimately say we are the thought leaders, politicians are not thought leaders.” VIDEO | Nelson Mandela University: Former President Thabo Mbeki delivers keynote address at NMU The event forms part of the broader National Dialogue initiative, pursued locally as a sectoral initiative and supported by the Strategic Dialogue Group and the Thabo Mbeki Foundation “The theme for today is reimagining and co-creating eastern cape we want as contribution to the national vision of a new South Africa so basically what the university has done it has invited all four universities that are in the eastern cape and TVET colleges because the issue is to see from the higher education point of view how does higher education contribute to a new vision for South Africa,” says Strategic Dialogue Group Chairperson, Dr Percy Mahlathi. “It would be a travesty to not include the higher education sector in these dialogues because our country is in crisis, and it is up to us to put our minds together and come out with a solution,” adds Prof Sibongile Muthwa, Vice-Chancellor at Nelson Mandela University. The event is seen as the beginning of a sustained programme that will continue to gather voices from the higher education sector from around the country. VIDEO | Higher education sector and national dialogue: Thabo Mbeki delivers keynote address at NMU
