Why the Drakensberg Inclusive Growth Forum Matters

The Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation's Drakensberg Inclusive Growth Forum provides an important platform for South Africans and Africans to confront difficult economic questions, hear different perspectives and consider practical ways of building a more inclusive economy.

The Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation deserves recognition for creating and sustaining a space where difficult questions about South Africa's economic future can be discussed openly.

The Drakensberg Inclusive Growth Forum brings together people from different parts of society, including government, business, academia, civil society and youth. That diversity matters because the country's economic challenges cannot be solved by one sector acting alone.

Economic growth is often discussed in terms of numbers, investment and policy. But behind those numbers are people, households and businesses trying to build sustainable lives.

South Africa continues to face unemployment, inequality and pressure on household incomes. These challenges require more than statements of intent. They require people with different experiences and responsibilities to sit together, challenge assumptions and explore practical solutions.

This is where forums such as the Drakensberg Inclusive Growth Forum become valuable.They create an opportunity for ideas to move beyond individual organisations and enter a broader conversation. A government official can hear directly from business. A corporate leader can hear from communities. Academics can test ideas against practical experience. Young people can bring perspectives that may otherwise be overlooked. That exchange matters, because no single institution has all the answers to South Africa's economic challenges.

Inclusive growth requires collaboration, and collaboration requires spaces where people can listen to one another, disagree constructively and find areas of common ground. The Forum also serves another important purpose: it keeps inclusive growth on the agenda.

Economic growth that benefits only a small part of society cannot create a stable and prosperous future. Growth must create opportunities for more people to work, build businesses, develop skills and participate meaningfully in the economy.

That requires uncomfortable conversations. It requires asking who is benefiting from growth, who remains excluded and what needs to change.

It also requires moving beyond discussion towards action. A strong forum should not simply produce compelling speeches. It should help participants identify practical opportunities for collaboration, investment, policy development and community-level implementation. This is ultimately what makes the Drakensberg Inclusive Growth Forum important. It brings people into the same room around questions that affect the future of the country and the continent. It creates the possibility of relationships becoming partnerships, ideas becoming programmes and conversations becoming action.

As the Forum continues to grow, its greatest value may lie not in the number of people who attend, but in what happens after they leave.

The challenge now is to take the energy and ideas generated through these engagements and turn them into measurable progress. South Africaneed spaces for serious economic dialogue.

It also needs the determination to act on what those conversations reveal. The continued effort by the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation to create such a platform is therefore worth recognising. Forums like this remind us that building a more inclusive economy is not the responsibility of one institution. It is a shared task.