Let’s draw from a past to wriggle out of current mess

Theory and practice came together at the 7th Annual African Unity for Renaissance Conference held in Pretoria this week when delegates looked at, among others, how the continent has inspired new ways of conflict resolution.

The conference was hosted by the Human Sciences Research Council and brought together researchers, experts and academics from a range of disciplines to look at the development of durable solutions to some of the continent’s challenges, including international relations and foreign policy, amongst others.

In 2017 South Africa commemorates 30 years since the conversations in Dakar, Senegal, between members of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa and prominent Afrikaners on the one hand and some of leaders of the exiled ANC, led by Thabo Mbeki.

The meeting was an attempt by the interested parties to find a resolution to the intractable situation in South Africa. It had become clear that the current thinking and ways of engagement in the country were not going to yield a positive outcome or resolution.

On Tuesday as part of the conference, delegates who participated in the Dakar discussions, on both sides, participated in the review of lessons learnt since then and why the South African model for conflict resolution has contributed to international relations theory which has in turn influenced practice.

The Dakar meeting was one of multiple streams of negotiations or engagements, all of which had as their goal, the hope that this would yield a response to the situation in South Africa which would form the foundation on which to build a more equitable country.

The outcomes of these various negotiations have yielded a now well recognised principle in international relations studies – sufficient consensus rather than absolute consensus.

This has become a very important principle in the resolution of resistant, intractable conflicts.

The South African experience also showed the world, according to Kurt Shillinger, writing in 2009 that “talking leads to peace or dialogue agreement”.

It was also a home-grown solution which was achieved without formal outside mediation.

The South African situation also demonstrated how the condition of a conflict being ripe for resolution is crucial for resolution.

After decades of the brutal oppression of the majority of people, it had become obvious that the continued situation was no longer a viable alternative to resolution which made it easier to reach sufficient consensus leading to our negotiated solution.

Daniela Kroslak, also writing in 2009, has lauded the South African experience of conflict resolution because it, among others, “adhered to the A to Z of good peacemaking: inclusiveness and integration of all parties, non-violent solutions, compromise solutions acceptable to all and national ownership”.

The question to be asked now is, how do South Africans use the lessons of our past, the lessons which have inspired the world and which have brought peace to citizens of the world, to forge a new inclusiveness in our country?

It cannot be denied that South Africa is at a crossroads, some might say a point where we cannot continue with business as usual.

How do we use this nexus positively? How do we turn the situation to one which can again inspire us and the world?

SA is at a crossroads today and cannot continue with business as usual