The congress of the people and the Freedom Charter: lessons for national social dialogue

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On 26 June 2025, South Africa will mark 70 years since the historic adoption of the charter in Kliptown near Johannesburg.
Image: IOL / Independent Newspapers
Barely a year after the defiant campaign was launched by the African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners on 26 June 1952, primarily to oppose the unjust and discriminatory laws of the apartheid government, the mobilised populace of various races inspired Professor ZK Mathews.
In 1953, he proposed gathering and soliciting the people's demands, immediate challenges, and suggestions regarding the future they envisioned for South Africa.
Professor Mathews' proposal was accepted and culminated in extensive consultation, which led to the Congress of the People's (CoP) convention and the drafting and adoption of the Freedom Charter on 26 June 1955.
This means that on 26 June 2025, South Africa will mark 70 years since the historic adoption of the charter in Kliptown near Johannesburg.
This milestone and the people's document will be commemorated in the context of assessing the implementation of its clauses, or lack thereof, over thirty-one years following the democratic breakthrough in 1994.
However, this article analyses how the Congress of the People and the Freedom Charter were convened and adopted, chiefly focusing on the clause 'the people shall govern', in the quest for the lessons that can be drawn for the envisaged convention of national social dialogue in South Africa.
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The intensive and extensive consultation, along with the politicisation of society a year before the convention of the COP, epitomised a true reflection of 'the people shall govern'.
This assertion is aptly captured by a former member of the first democratic parliament of South Africa, Dr Ismail Vadi, who states that in 1954, the National Action Council (NAC) was established to oversee the comprehensive preparations for the COP and drafting of the charter.
This structure of five members ensured that provincial, regional, and local action councils and committees were in place, each with well-defined roles and responsibilities.
Afterwards, Vadi indicates that there was a call for volunteers to serve in the structures; the volunteers were trained to ensure that they do not only collected the demands of the people but also discussed the political issues of the moment and ensured that the elections of delegates to the COP reflected the demographic profile of, and the existing progressive organisations in, the length and breadth of the country.
In his opinion, Joe Slovo, the former General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and member of the draft team of the Freedom Charter, posited that the COP was the 'most representative assembly ever held in South Africa.'
However, this document has been subjected to public scrutiny for the past decades, and political activist Professor Raymond Sutter argues that, freedom charter, today remains a document of basic human right which we can learn from as we attempt to reconstruct the future, in his view, its emancipatory character is more relevant than its content.
It has been over a decade since a call was made to reset the country's vision by reconvening the national dialogue.
Therefore, the Government of National Unity (GNU) and all political parties represented in Parliament must, in the context and spirit of the clause 'the people shall govern', genuinely listen to and heed South Africans' progressive call and convene a national dialogue.
However, valuable lessons can be drawn from how COP was convened and how consultations, political discussions, and the critical issues of that time, which required resolution, were conducted and documented.
Additionally, the processes involved in selecting and electing delegates were significant.
Nevertheless, I support the call for foundations named after eminent South Africans to be empowered to fulfil a role similar to that of the National Action Council in preparing for the proposed national dialogue.
Eight years ago, in support of the convention for national dialogue, former Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe stated that history is not written solely with pen and paper, but also through the actions of ordinary people who understand the socio-historical essence of dialogue as a trans-generational imperative that has shaped and continues to shape the soul of our nation.
In light of the debate surrounding national dialogue in South Africa, the fundamental question is whether the parliaments of African countries genuinely reflect the people's aspirations and visions.
For instance, last year in Kenya, parliament proposed a financial bill to increase taxes, including Value Added Tax. The bill faced overwhelming opposition; nevertheless, parliament adopted it, leading to widespread protests among Kenyans that forced President William Ruto to reverse it.
In March this year, the Minister of Finance in South Africa, Enoch Godongwana, prepared a budget speech proposing an increase in Value Added Tax.
His proposal was opposed by political parties in parliament, and in his revised speech in May 2025, he stated that the proposed VAT increase has been reversed because the government listens to South Africans.
That claim by the Finance Minister is devoid of truth because politicians in parliament discussed that budget without the opinions of ordinary people.
Former President Thabo Mbeki correctly said that the country's entire future cannot be delegated to politicians alone; the people must be part of the process to determine the destiny of their country.
Therefore, it has become clear that 'people shall govern' has been reduced to political slogans and not necessarily a policy statement that seeks to tangibly involve the people. This highlights the need for a national social dialogue, and I do not believe that the GNU is willing to convene it.
In October 2024, the Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, publicly announced that the inaugural national dialogue was to be convened on 16th December 2024, to prepare for the 2025 national social dialogue; however, he later announced the postponement without setting a new date.
It has been almost eight months, and nothing seems to be progressing on that front. My assertion is supported by the Minister of Finance, who recently stated that the budget has no provision for national social dialogue.
Regrettably, the fuel levy has been increased to address the shortfall in the National Budget. However, in 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa received the Justice Nugent commission report regarding the inquiry into the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
The recommendations were unequivocal, and it is alleged that over eight million was expended on the commission.
I contend that SARS could have recouped sufficient funds to prevent this increase in the fuel levy had the recommendations been adequately implemented.
Numerous commissions of inquiry are established without full execution or consideration of the recommendations; nevertheless, national social dialogue cannot be funded.
There are some disturbing calls for the creation of independent states within the state in South Africa, serves as a pressing need for an in-depth discussion; I concur with the former Minister of Finance, Mcebisi Jonas, that the consensus of 1994 has disintegrated and a wider social conversation is necessary to revitalise the country's vision.
Orapeleng Matshediso is a Masters graduate of Pan African Development Studies and Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg (Institute for Pan African Thought and Conversation). The author is also an alumnus of the then Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI).
Orapeleng Matshediso is a Masters graduate of Pan African Development Studies and Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg (Institute for Pan African Thought and Conversation).
Image: Supplied.