Social cohesion elitist, out of touch – muso
SONGSTRESS Simphiwe Dana is not pleased with the government’s social cohesion plan, describing it as elitist and out of touch with current public dialogues.
Dana, a Social Cohesion Advocate, was speaking at a gathering of Social Cohesion Advocates, Department of Arts and Culture, CEOs and other sectors yesterday to discuss a way forward with a non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.
She said the programme was elitist and slightly out of touch with public dialogues currently happening in the country.
Social Cohesion Advocates are influential members of the public whose nation building ideals align with those of the government. They are mandated to be ambassadors of non-racialism and non-sexism in their communities.
“We should not be distracted in our quest to build a non-racial South Africa,” Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said.
The meeting comes after racial slurs have exposed the fault lines in our nation building and social cohesion, said acting Arts and Culture Director-General Vusi Ndima.
A brainchild of the department, Social Cohesion Advocates have their own programme of action based on the National Development Plan.
Mthethwa said the approach for a non-racial society should be multifaceted and integrated into the community.
“Social Cohesion Advocates need to be visible on the ground,” he said.
Social Cohesion Advocate Joseph Radebe raised important concerns related to increasing the partnerships that are needed to support nation building at the local government level.
National Heritage Council chief executive officer Sonwabile Mancotywa was vocal about the inclusion of Black Consciousness ideals in the Social Cohesion Advocates’ programme of action.
“We also need a people’s convention added in. It will be the Codesa of identity in South Africa, because we know that we are an overwork-shopped society,” he said.
Social Cohesion Advocate and retired Constitutional Court judge Yvonne Mokgoro, who made 11 recommendations to the Social Cohesion Advocates’ plan of action, said the plans are not cast in stone, nor do they have a fixed time frame.
“Social cohesion is a process, not an event, and is not an end to itself,” she said.
Practical solutions such as creation of community centres, partnering with more antiracism institutions and reworking the history syllabus were brought forward as ways to increase social cohesion.