GCRO & MISTRA partner on a 'Rebuild SA' webinar series
The Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) and the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) have partnered to host a series of three webinars under the theme ‘Rebuild SA’. These three dialogues respond to the recent turmoil in KZN and Gauteng coming in the wake of the devastating impact of COVID-19 on lives, livelihoods and our democracy generally over the last year; the low economic growth SA was experiencing before the pandemic, and which worsened in 2020; and the challenges the state has been facing generally post the period of state capture.
These issues constitute the fundamental challenges facing our country. They require a multiplicity of voices – government, business, academia and civil society – to both unpack what has happened and to develop solutions-oriented insights and ideas that would help rebuild South Africa. The Rebuild SA webinar series aimed to deepen the conversation around recent events and possible paths to recovery through three interrelated dialogues: (1) Rebuilding Communities, (2) Rebuilding Economies, and (3) Rebuilding Government.
Full videos of all three dialogues can be accessed below.
Webinar 3: Rebuilding Government – 24 November 2021
The third webinar, Rebuilding Government, examined the functionality of the state, focusing on weaknesses exposed and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the July 2021 events. It also focused on aspects of state resilience in the recent period in order to deepen understanding of what a 'capable state' is, and how we can achieve it. The dialogue also considered the dynamics that shaped results in the recent local government elections, and what the outcome revealed about the current state of government and governance in South Africa.
View the full recording of the third webinar here.
Webinar 2: Rebuilding Economies – 28 October 2021
The second webinar, Rebuilding Economies, reflected critically on the country’s Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan (ERRP), launched a year ago in parliament. What progress has been made, what are the impacts of the July 2021 unrest, and do we need a radically different approach to achieving economic growth and inclusion?
View the full recording of the second webinar here.
Webinar 1: Rebuilding Communities – 29 September 2021
The first webinar, Rebuilding Communities, explored some of the immediate causes and effects of the July 2021 events, in turn located in the frame of broader challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment, which have been cited as being at the root of a lack of social cohesion in South Africa. The discussion was foregrounded by an understanding of what happened on the ground at the flashpoints themselves, in the run-up to, and during, the July turmoil.
View the full recording of the first webinar here.
