Nation Building - Reimagine SA

Embedding Ubuntu to unlock the potential of inclusive advancement, ReimagineSA promotes a ‘healingfirst’ approach that leverages the indigenous wisdom of the Letsema Process.

South Africa is known for being a resilient nation, dedicated to overcoming a complicated and painful past. The end of apartheid marked a new beginning, yet after 26 years it remains evident that a foundation of deep healing work is needed across the spheres of life, from personal to business and policy.

Covid-19 has magnified South Africa’s existing challenges in the absence of potential-unlocking employment opportunities to address poverty, hunger and heal inter-generational trauma. To collectively facilitate the true empowerment of a nation, transformation toward sustained inclusion requires concerted and consistent effort. The disproportionate levels of inequality in South Africa need to be addressed with urgency and swift, compassionate action.

Letsema: Accelerating Transformation & Inclusion

Founded by Dr Mamphela Ramphele and Dr George Lindeque in 2016, ReimagineSA exists to inspire a progressive culture within public service, corporate South Africa and in communities. The organisation’s crosssector strategies seek to prioritise emotional wellbeing, multi-stakeholder governance and inclusive livelihoods. Engaging at various catalytic 'meeting places' and nurturing Ubuntu consciousness through the following inter-related themes:

• The Key Role of Healing • Share Responsibility • Re-evaluating our Values • Reimagining Governance Frameworks • Youth as our Present, not only our Future • Transforming our Economy

CASE STUDIES

To embed Ubuntu in our daily interactions as a nation, the organisation has established a reputation in applying collaborative solutions using the Letsema Process. This traditional tool leverages the strategy of elevating community voices through creating circles of communication and face-to-face engagement.

Dr Ramphele elaborates: “It is time to revisit the governance system of our ancestors: the government of the people - coming together around a circle, a Letsema (Lekgotla) to talk about key issues in the community and exploring who has skills to best solve problems. People will have different views, this doesn’t mean we all need to agree. In the end, the best ideas for the collective presented in the circle are the ones that we support, everyone committed to make sure they were implemented.”

Each voice is validated, respected and considered to create solutions in unison. The Letsema Process was revived in 2010 to facilitate conversations that promote the Dinokeng scenario of Walking Together (active citizen engagement with a government that is effective and that listens). Various stakeholders are engaged to shift from walking in different directions, or following while someone else leads – to ‘walking together’ through the following steps:

1. Co-discover: In this initial phase, shifting from imposed strategies, solutions and assumptions to meeting with key community stakeholders to listen, learn and understand.

2. Co-initiate: Devising an agenda aimed at collective transformation and inclusion. Bringing engaged stakeholders together to connect, explore the community’s collective change agenda, and identify shared interests and goals.

3. Co-inspire: Discussing the past, and discovering various ways to heal alongside each other, nurture newfound confidence.

4. Co-mmunicate: Learn about one another’s challenges and sharing ideas by facilitating open channels of communication to directly engage stakeholders and their community to collectively devise solutions to challenges.

5 . Co-create: Become stronger by facing obstacles together and being able to see opportunities in challenges and assist in co-creating solutions that are sustainable and inclusive.

6. Co-invest: Identify the potential for human and natural resources to be shared and developed for the benefit of both the individual and collective.

CASE STUDIES

ReimagineSA adopts two key avenues of engagement: Advocacy and Advisory. Focusing on the emotional, economic and political pillars of the constitution within their broader contexts, the advocacy work is about facilitating the co-creation of inclusive platforms and solutions. Key to this is showcasing courageous conversations through a series of strategic campaigns that mobilise partners along the journey. Thoughtful dialogues ensure that we don’t reinvent the wheel by acknowledging champions of inclusive growth to inspire changemakers and active citizens with practical examples of systems impact.

ADVOCACY: ACCELERATING INCLUSIVE SOCIAL HOUSING DIALOGUES

Social housing in South Africa is a controversial, tenuous and largely ineffective area of service delivery with citizens lacking access to decent social housing. In the worst-case scenario, citizens have been waiting for housing since 1994. In partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Absa, ReimagineSA launched a series of dialogues with activists, beneficiaries, academics, and other professionals to gain their perspectives on the current situation and potential innovations. The first discussion was held at a conference prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by a webinar and podcast in 2020. Various papers were presented by the Development Action Group (DAG) and Socio-Economic Rights Institute of Southern Africa (SERI) on land reform, land redistribution and tenure security within the urban context. In terms of unleashing potential, for government, listening to all stakeholders in the process of transforming these spaces unlocking untapped potential for innovation is essential to successful collaborative governance within municipal areas. This emphasises the role municipalities play in delivering inclusive social housing due to their key positioning at various nodes of service delivery across the country. In the context of accelerating housing solutions, the dialogues highlighted three models for solving the problem. These closely reflected the trajectory of both the Dinokeng – (and more recent Indlulamithi South Africa Scenarios 2030, as initiated by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection):

• 1st Model: The municipality can take on the project by themselves.

• 2nd Model: The municipality can leave it to private entities to handle.

• 3rd Model: The municipality can partner with other organisations/ entities.

Taking the outcomes from these engagements forward into developing viable pilots, ReimagineSA works with partners to co-create execution models that foster dignity and inclusivity. The Letsema Process invites government to work alongside civil society and businesses to resolve the ongoing challenges of housing in South Africa.

ADVISORY: SIBANYE-STILLWATER’S MARIKANA RENEWAL PROGRAMME

The impact of the Marikana Tragedy left a dark shadow over the area and the rest of South Africa with the death of the 42 miners in August 2012. Acquiring Lonmin and its legacy in 2019, meant that SibanyeStillwater had to take an unpredicted approach to ‘business as usual.” Upon the acquisition CEO, Neal Froneman prioritised the issue and in 2021, Sibanye-Stillwater launched the Marikana Renewal Process. Three key pillars were identified to address victims, organisations, leaders, and other stakeholders through key deliverables:

1. Honour: Commemorating the lives of the miners who died during the Marikana and supporting the families.

2. Engage: Actively engaging with stakeholders to prevent similar tragedies in future.

3. Create: Collaborate with stakeholders and the community to create social upliftment programs.

Since 2020, ReimagineSA has been working in collaboration with Sibanye-Stillwater to facilitate healing through community engagement and transition the region’s association with legacy of tragedy to a reimagined future of collective renewal. The aim is to collectively forge a futurefocused Social Compact that unlocks community potential beyond mining. Aisha Navy Fundi, widow of the Marikana Tragedy explained that she wants people to see Marikana differently in the future. When mining life ends in Marikana there needs to be an independent, thriving community. In Aisha’s view this means changing the perception of the people and communities to that of a rebirthed Marikana, where tragedy and pain can engender justice, hope and innovation.

Sibanye’s CEO has acknowledged the need to build strong foundations for this process to be successful. To facilitate inclusive representation and trust, ReimagineSA continues to walk together with the company in navigating challenges from the perspectives of key stakeholders following the Letsema Process to engage identified renewal stakeholders to set a strong foundation to bring about meaningful impact in the surrounding community while upholding responsible mining practices. This requires the co-crafting and/or stress-testing of inclusive, forward-thinking strategies [like the District Development Model.) to engage the community and deliver sustainable programmes for Marikana’s surrounding regions, fostering best practice in implementing new policies to drive transformation.

REIMAGINING IN ACTION

ReimagineSA has developed a series of workshops that can be applied and adapted to different types of organisations. These include the Ubuntu Masterclasses, aimed at bringing conscious healing and active citizenship into the workspace; with a Junior Ubuntu Masterclass tailored for learners in primary and high school. Working together with our participants to instill the values of the Ubuntu in all spheres of their lives, the workshops play a pivotal role in improving inclusive approaches to engagement. The aim is to contribute towards a country that values non-discriminatory practices, embraces transformation and is open to input from community members at all levels.

ReimagineSA partners to resolve the systemic injustices, devise strategies to take action, and collaborate with champions in various communities. Recent events underpin the need to prioritise healing-focused conversations between stakeholders across levels. Transformation and inclusion are paramount. If we don’t reimagine, we will keep reinforcing the current reality. Instead of passively perpetuating the current future, we can devise forward-looking strategies that consider top-down and bottomup approaches. By combining Ubuntu with best practice, we can look back on a past of milestones that strategically shifted the system, because we created the future we wanted, together.

Contact: Luvuyo Madasa, Executive Director Email: info@reimaginesa.com Website: www.reimaginesa.com