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Part of a series of three events, this dialogue will bring business leaders, church leaders and senior experts from both sides together to focus on the following questions: “How do we restore trust and how can we create a new “social contract” – with alternative options to implement partnerships and agreements (apart from, or complementing government options)?

In economic debates, faith communities and churches traditionally emphasize issues of social justice, inequality and the “preferential option for the Poor”, which is part of the broader ecumenical and prophetic tradition. There is a strong reference to biblical and other sacred text that the poor, the widows and the orphans need special protection – that their dignity (and all other humans) is based on being created in the image of God. This is the foundation of the fundamental equality of all human beings.

Good governance, fairness in judicial systems and sound economic and social policies are normally associated with stable democracies, where the needs of all sections of the population (access to education, health, security, etc.) are addressed by the government of the day, using the resources of a country to spread the benefits amongst all the sections of society (rather than to a selected rent-seeking elite).

But what happens if the government of the day and other constitutional mechanisms that are important in solving conflicts in terms of the fundamental constitutional rights fail in this task?

19.8.2019: (1) How can churches support local government?

22. & 23.8.2019: (2) How can churches support the government's national welfare policy and address the crisis of social workers?

30.9.2019: (3)  How can churches engage with the political economy of South Africa?