The Courageous Conversations Initiative was launched in 2015 by the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba. Archbishop Makgoba continues to host annual multi-stakeholder interfaith conversations that focuses on engagements between the mining industry and the faith community in Southern Africa, more specifically, South Africa. The Day of Courageous Conversation (DOCC) aims to provide a safe space for a multi-perspective examination of the issues, opportunities and challenges that the mining industry in South Africa presents, as well as to explore initiatives that can be undertaken to address these realities.
ACCORD’s Founder and Executive Director, Dr Vasu Gounden, contributed to the 2021 session by sharing his knowledge together with ACCORD’s 29-year expertise in the sector. Dr Gounden reflected on the historic and contemporary violent conflict in Southern Africa, and the recent violent unrest experienced in parts of South Africa in July 2021.
Dr Gounden offered an analysis and prognosis of violent conflict in Southern Africa, and presented a comparative analysis on unrests, looking at key statistics such as population, level of urbanisation, and types of security and political organisation between the years 1992 and 2021. He further provided insight and suggestions on possible causes, drivers and manifestations of conflict in Southern Africa. The presentation concluded with a summary of potential responses and recommendations to mitigate violent conflict, specifically by addressing the underlying issues which drive conflict.
ACCORD remains committed to supporting collective actions for the faith and mining industries to address the underlying causes of violence in Southern Africa. keen
