OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday
FORMER US president Bill Clinton will introduce to South Africa the concept of town hall meetings at a two-day conference on civil society this week – but the conference is being boycotted by trade unions and non-governmental organisations.
The boycotters claim the conference will not represent grass-roots views.
Clinton will make a keynote speech on Tuesday at the conference, which will be opened by former South African president Nelson Mandela, and on Wednesday the former US president will hold an interactive session on town hall meetings, organisers said.
”He will be interacting with approximately 100 youngsters and together they will explore ways to apply this concept to South Africa,” the Civil Society Initiative said in a statement.
The meetings are held in the United States to allow ordinary people to tell politicians what they want.
The European Union is the main sponsor of the initiative, which aims to raise awareness among South Africans that they have ”a responsibility towards developing disadvantaged communities”.
The Confederation of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), representing about 1.7 million workers, said it would boycott the conference because it would not reflect the real views of civil society in South Africa.
It is ”an attempt re-invent a civil society” which already exists, said spokesman Patrick Craven, who criticised organiser Roelf Meyer.
”We and numerous organisations have been in the field for decades, and now it seems to be re-invented by somebody with no track record in the field,” said Craven.
But Meyer, a former cabinet minister who served in both the apartheid and Nelson Mandela governments, said the conference was intended to debate the role of civil society.
”It was not intended to represent specific interests,” he said.
Meyer met COSATU secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi on Sunday in an unsuccessful bid to avert a boycott.
The South African NGO Coalition, representing about 4_000 non-governmental organisations – declared Friday that they would also boycott the conference, saying it lacked transparency. – AFP
ZA*NOW:
Clinton, Mandela face boycott April 23, 2001