GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General
13 August 2025
Without pragmatic discussion followed by decisive action to address colour-coded inequality South Africa risks being led by a Robert Mugabe. If we don’t prioritise narrowing inequality and accelerate fixing social and economic exclusions and injustices inherited from our divided history, economic growth and social stability will remain pipe dreams.
What is required is an introspective conversation about the nation’s soul, that does not lend itself to the populist and/or divisive rhetoric of election campaigns. It is in this spirit that the GOOD Party agreed to participate in the National Dialogue.
It is deeply regrettable that a number of Foundations have stepped away from the dialogue. We share concerns they have raised with respect to funding and grassroots participation, but will nonetheless participate in the dialogue because we view it as critical to the sustainability of the non-racial Constitutional democracy.
Of course, words and phrases such as “redress” and “addressing inequality” are a red flag to those who want to hang onto the privileges bestowed on them by history.
It’s the last conversation the DA, FF+, Solidarity and Afriforum want to be having. That they have conjured a co-ordinated excuse – that the dialogue is in fact an ANC monologue – and withdrawn from the conversation is hardly unsurprising. Their withdrawal is deeply regrettable, too, because if the country carries on drifting on a wave of poverty and exclusion it is in grave danger of hitting an iceberg – as it did in July 2021.
Whether or not the ANC tries to manipulate the dialogue, it is in fact Accused Number One on any objective judgement of South Africa’s progress over the past three decades. The conversation we need to have is bigger than the ANC or any single party. It’s about recalibrating the national compass to meet the worthy Constitutional goals of equal rights, dignity, fairness and justice. Failure to do so in an orderly manner will leave an open field to the disorderly.
Media Enquiries: media@forgood.org.za