LISTEN | National dialogue ‘hijacked’: Thabo Mbeki says SA leaderless on poverty, inequality
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has criticized the current government for lacking a coherent plan to address poverty, unemployment, and inequality. He argues that the national dialogue has been hijacked and that the social compact between government and business has collapsed.
Why it matters
Mbeki's critique reflects ongoing political and economic instability in South Africa and the challenges of achieving systemic reform.
Former president Thabo Mbeki says South Africa has “no clear direction” to tackle inequality, poverty and unemployment, warning the collapse of the social compact has left the country without a coherent plan of action.
Addressing the CSI Indaba 2026 in Johannesburg, Mbeki said the original social compact process had effectively collapsed, shrinking from a broad, multistakeholder effort into a narrower partnership between government and business.
“The social compact has collapsed, the social partnership has collapsed,” he said. “[The country] has no clear direction as to what we are going to do to solve the problems of inequality, poverty and so on. It doesn’t exist.”
Mbeki was critical of the government’s economic recovery efforts, describing them as a “wish list” rather than a concrete programme, and drawing parallels with the National Development Plan, which he regards as outlining a vision without a clear plan of action.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in