South Africa has faced some very dark times over the past decade, but the country's top leaders have not given up on building a brighter future.
Despite the economic woes, culture of corruption and many other national challenges that are weighing us down, there is room for progress, positivity and hope.
This was evident at News24's On the Record summit in Sandton, Johannesburg on Thursday, where a range of insightful discussions were held to uncover key solutions to South Africa's biggest struggles.
The leadership event, which was hosted in partnership with Nedbank, was attended by nearly 1 000 guests.
Here's a recap of some of the powerful ideas, opinions and revelations shared at the leadership event.
1. If we want to prevent future corruption, we must safeguard whistleblowers
Whistleblowers, along with the media, have played a vital role in uncovering years of state capture in South Africa. Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who chaired the four-year-long State Capture Inquiry, stressed that more needed to be done to protect whistleblowers to prevent future corruption in the country.
Delivering the keynote address at the summit, he warned that whistleblowers "won't be around next time" should there be a repeat of state capture. Read more on that here.
2. More state capture arrests are coming, and it's for the good of the country
The head of the National Prosecuting Authority's Investigating Directorate (ID), advocate Andrea Johnson, revealed that more state capture arrests would be on the cards in September. In conversation with News24's Pieter du Toit, she said the recent arrests of Transnet executives Brian Molefe and Anoj Sing were good for the ID and the morale of the country.
Johnson used her platform at News24's summit to plead for her unit to be made permanent as part of the South Africa's ongoing corruption-busting efforts. Here's a breakdown of that discussion.
3. There's still hope to fix Eskom
Eskom CEO André de Ruyter opened up about some of the corruption battles he still faces at the power utility, during a one-on-one conversation with News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson, De Ruyter said successful prosecutions would help to get rid of the "residue of corruption" at the ailing state-owned entity.
The electricity boss also spoke very candidly about some of the challenges he faced while trying to turn around the institution, saying: "As an organisation, Eskom has suffered huge damage - physical, cultural and financial, during the years of state capture, and trying to fix that is a challenge because you have to make staff believe in themselves again, that we are up for the challenge."
Here's a closer look at what De Ruyter had to say.
4. Businesses aren't happy with social compacts, they want action
Business leaders say South Africa's economy isn't growing because of the consensus-seeking way of making decisions. Some economic policies that should have restructured the economy have been in the making for more than a decade, and they say it's probably time to put the "social compact" aside because growth is about disrupting existing structures.
Business Leadership SA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso believes the quest for social compact and consensus-seeking on the government's side is one of South Africa's weakest points, saying that "this is the seventh social compact we are entering as a country … we haven't even delivered a fraction of the commitments we made in the last social compact".
5. Coalitions and active citizens are the future
Despite conversations and panels about the immense problems facing South Africa - the remnants of state capture, the energy crises and the quagmire that is the economy - the disposition was not defeatist.
Gift of the Givers Foundation co-founder Imtiaz Sooliman says South Africa shouldn't be despondent about the future, and Professor Thuli Madonsela urged young people to build the South Africa they want.
Coalitions also took up a large amount of time on the politics panel, Life after the ANC, with the general consensus being that coalitions are the future of national governance.
Qaanitah Hunter unpacks the conversation here.
News24 subscribers can watch the full recording of the summit here.
