Anchored by Theo Vorster, the panellists included: Roelf Meyer of the In Transformation Initiative; Konanani Liphatzi, CEO of Fruit South Africa; Theo Venter, political analyst at the North West University; and Chris Burgess, Editor-in-Chief of Landbouweekblad.
The spirit of the conversation was a consensus that South Africans needed to find a common view of what kind of South Africa they wanted, and that all South Africans, regardless of race, gender or age needed to work towards the same goal.
Theo Venter said the recent election highlighted definite voter trends such as “loyalty and pragmatism; there was very little traction for the weirdo’s or ‘clown parties’,” said Theo.
Theo also said that history has proven that voting trends tend to shift with generations and that this election was significant in that a new generation influenced the vote, 25 years after democracy. Chris added that the ANC lost enough support to think twice and retained enough to still have a mandate.
Konanani Liphatzi made the point of thanking Theo for her inclusion on the panel, saying “because I stand out for two reasons.” With regards to the future of agriculture she added that “we need to deal with policy certainty, for example the land issue, we need to get that sorted, so that farmers can get access to finance, as well as access to markets. The standards of farming for commercial and new farmers should be the same, because international standards are the same, however the level of support of new farmers should be different.”
Chris’ point about the government’s commitment to agriculture is that the “strategies and plans should be devolved down to the community level, where the communities decide what works for them. A solution in one town, or for one commodity is not necessarily the same for all rural towns or commodities.”
From the audience this instalment of Nation in Conversation had everything, from a former police general calling for the mistakes of the past not to be repeated “when the previous regime truck-loaded us onto land and forcibly removed the black occupants and dumped them elsewhere”; to a former South African ambassador sharing his experience of voting trends internationally. The advent of social media and its influence on so-called millennial’s attitude to politics and voting was also discussed.
Roelf Meyer also made the point that “in 2017 I had a discussion with Chris Burgess about the situation in the country, off air, during a recording of Nation in Conversation, and we were both very despondent and negative about the future. Now I can honestly say that I have hope and am very positive about the future.”
Both Theo and Konanani said that voters should hold the party they voted for accountable. Theo said: “Cyril Ramaphosa promised two major things, to grow the economy and to clean up the ANC, and we should hold him accountable to that.”
For a frank and riveting insight into some of the country’s leading minds in agriculture and politics, don’t miss this recording of Nation in Conversation, especially the Q&A section at the end.