Herman Mashaba, Mmusi Maimane roll out The People’s Dialogue [video]

Herman Mashaba and Mmusi Maimane, both excommunicated DA leaders, have raised speculation on their joint political future with the rollout of The People’s Dialogue.

Herman Mashaba, Mmusi Maimane launch ‘dialogue’ on South Africa

Mashaba’s exit became Maimane’s motivation to vacate his position as the leader of the official opposition party. It was the regressive nature of the DA’s politics that forced the two leaders to part ways with the party.

Two months after their highly publicised exit, it appears that Mashaba and Maimane have ramped up their collaborative work with the launch of The People’s Dialogue.

Mashaba, dubbed as the founder of the movement, led the way with a video calling on South Africans to post a video with the hashtags, #SASpeaks and #LoveSA, responding to the question: What do you love most about our country?

As we approach the festive season, let us focus on the positive – what we love about South Africa and why it is worth saving! What do YOU love most about our country? Post your own video under #SASpeaks or #LoveSA and give your inputs into the Dialogue at https://t.co/jgVFZwewg3 pic.twitter.com/HONMCj0PP2

— Herman Mashaba (@HermanMashaba) December 17, 2019

Maimane did his part and responded to Mashaba’s call, stating that while 2019 was a challenging year, it held many positives.

We are a nation full of possibilities. 🇿🇦

Lets talk! What do you love about South Africa? Answer to this challenge!

Share, record your own short video and lets fill social media with what you love about SA and what needs to be done.

Use #SAspeaks and #LoveSA. Here is mine: pic.twitter.com/IV956mEMwa

— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) December 17, 2019

The challenge has attracted engagement on social media, with people sharing their views on what they love the most about South Africans.

There is no doubt that this has been a long & difficult yr for our nation. As we approach the holidays I love the idea of us sharing what is good about our nation, what we love most & what inspires us. It's for us to build South Africa as committed citizens. #LoveSA #SASpeaks 🇿🇦

— CATHERINE Constantinides (@ChangeAgentSA) December 17, 2019

Is The People’s Dialogue a political party?

Mashaba and Maimane have both stressed that The People’s Dialogue is not a political party. Instead, it is “a platform to engage South Africans from all walks of life about how we can build a South Africa that we can all be proud of.”

In the early phases of the civil organisation’s existence, the main objective seems to be centered around qualitative data collection.

A section of the organisation’s website, titled Have Your Say, is a short questionnaire on the most important issues facing South Africa today.

Whether this information will be used to draw uo a manifesto or simply cater for targeted newletter and USSD campaigns, remains to be seen.

However, for Mashaba, there is one simple rule in leading this discussion:

“As South Africans we must engage one another with respect for our great diversity of views and solutions. This must be positive discussion grounded in a shared desire to define a shared future for our people.”

Herman Mashaba, The People’s Dialogue