Reflections on coalition government and national dialogue: thirty years ago and now

REFLECTIONS ON COALITION GOVERNMENT AND NATIONAL DIALOGUE: THIRTY YEARS AGO AND NOW

Roelf Meyer, advisor

Tuesday 21 January  5:00 pm  COURSE FEES R115; Staff and students R58

South Africa has proved to be a working democracy. This is the case through all sectors of society: government, politics, business, civil society, organised labour. However, the political environment has become more fluid and less predictable. Coalition government seems to be the order of the indefinite future. Reflections on the options and possible scenarios for the period leading up to the next general election have already started. These speculations could either be enhanced through the national dialogue, or not.

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Roelf Meyer is a lawyer by profession. He served as Minister of Defence and of Constitutional Affairs in the cabinet of former President FW de Klerk and was intimately involved in the negotiations on the settlement of the South African conflict as Chief Negotiator for the National Party Government. It was in this capacity that he negotiated the end of apartheid together with Cyril Ramaphosa who was Chief Negotiator for the African National Congress (ANC). These negotiations resulted in the first democratic elections in South Africa at the end of April 1994. After the election Meyer continued in the portfolio of Constitutional Affairs in the Cabinet of former President Nelson Mandela.

In 2009 he received the Order of the Baobab in Silver for his role in the birth of the democratic South Africa through negotiations.

After his retirement from politics he started to act as an advisor in peace processes. In this capacity he has been involved in Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Rwanda, Burundi, Iraq, Kosovo, the Basque Region, Guyana, Bolivia, Kenya , Sudan, South Sudan, Colombia, Myanmar, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and the Central African Republic

He served as Chair of the South African Defence Review Committee from 2011 to 2014 which committee produced a review document that was unanimously adopted by Government and Parliament.

He is presently a director of In Transformation Initiative, a South African based institution that does facilitation and advisory work in and outside of the country.