Johannesburg - The Nelson Mandela Foundation held a dialogue as a follow-up to the annual lecture delivered by President Barack Obama.
The dialogue held at the Foundations headquarters in Houghton provided a forum to engage with some of the key themes, critiques and contradictions surrounding the lecture.
The foundation engaged in a discourse based on the theme ‘Is “Inclusive Capitalism' a realistic economic vision for the future.
It has been less than two months since former US President Obama kick-started a conversation on “Renewing the Mandela Legacy and Promoting Active Citizenship in a Changing World” in Johannesburg.
In a panel discussion adjudicated by renowned journalist Sikelelwa Mgabadeli, nicknamed Siki, invited four different individuals with vastly different views to dissect how Obama coined the term inclusive capitalism. Chief Executive Nelson Mandela Foundation Sello Hatang said Obama was briefed almost nine months prior to the event and he said:
“We believe that he rose to the challenge... He broke how poverty and inequality were stacked up against him,” said Hatang.
Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh an Academic with a radical and thought-provoking view of the concept said it was “a very sneaky term”.
“It shows the political brilliance of Obama but I am not sure if it’s particularly compelling... the very question is if capitalism itself is inheritedly not inclusive. When you put a veneer of credibility by putting the term inclusive before it, it’s like saying I believe in compassionate burglary,” said Mpofu-Walsh.
Alongside Hatang and Mpofu-Walsh was Pamela Mondliwa, Senior Researcher and Koketso Moeti an Obama Fellow.