The recent events in South Africa and in particular in Parliament indicate a resilience and maturity in our democracy.
While Nafcoc understand and respect various perspectives and stances from different political spectrums, we depart from the understanding and presumption that all actors have the interest of South Africa at heart.
In this respect, we would once again wish to remind them that South Africa is still facing economic challenges the enormity of which will require cohesive and concerted action.
Recent economic data indicate that the unemployment rate remains high, growth remains low and negative rates, low business confidence, less than optimal investment and the threat of further downgrades loom ever larger.
Now that this historic vote of no confidence has passed, energy and efforts must be devoted to the key challenges that confront the country.
This will require a steep change in our national dialogue and conversation.
While a section of political actors, particularly from the opposition parties, intends to pursue some matters further, and indeed it is their right to do so, we are concerned that this perpetually adversarial political engagement may be counter-productive and distract us from working together to bring back confidence and investment in the economy of this country.
Political parties in Parliament’s purpose is to hold the executive to account and they in turn must be kept in check by active citizenry and through elections.
However, political actors must not turn their political duties into political obsession, to a point that make them oblivious of the hardship the poor endure on a daily basis.
Nafcoc believes therefore that the time has now come to mobilise all social actors to an economic dialogue that will radically transform the economic fortunes of this country and change the lives of the poor in general and blacks in particular.