South Africa: Government Should Stop Top-Down Approach and Rather Engage Actively With the South African Public

The government must recognise that a mandate at the polls doesn’t give it carte blanche to act unilaterally. Instead, it must actively engage with citizens, creating meaningful spaces for participation and dialogue.

The excitement of our elections has subsided, but we know that democracy must be an everyday way of life for all citizens. Democracy needs to extend beyond voting every few years. Now, more than ever, we must recognise that active citizenship is the essence of radical democracy, ultimately coming down to ordinary people’s right to participate in governance.

With a new government in power, we must focus on keeping it accountable. That ideologically diverse parties are in power nationally and in provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng makes active public participation in processes of governance uniquely important.

South Africa has a sophisticated architecture for public participation in policy, legislative and constitutional terms. However, the spaces created by this architecture don’t always result in meaningful participation.

What academics call “invited spaces” for public participation often amount to little more than spin-doctored roadshows showcasing government policies, with minimal opportunity for real debate.

As a starting point, both provincial and national governments need to demonstrate greater political will to have people’s voices heard. These spaces always entail risk for governments, and it takes a particular kind of leadership to genuinely open itself up to this public participation.

By  Daily Maverick.