Keynote address by Riah Phiyega (Absa’s Group Executive for BEE, government relations and the Absa Foundation) at the launch of the 2007 Drivers of Change Award.

“To build the nation, a social contract between business, society and government is essential…”

Thank you, programme director, for your kind introduction. I would also like to thank Mail and Guardian and The Southern Africa Trust for this very special morning. Ladies and gentlemen, this morning is not only special but significant because together we celebrate The United Nations Day of Women’s Rights.

As you can imagine, it is not often that someone from my small village, a village that most people have never even heard of, has the opportunity to address a group as important as yourselves, it is for me an honour and a privilege to be with you today.

I was asked to address you on the topic of “driving change through partnerships between government, business and civil society.” It is pleasing to note that partnerships and development remains a subject that, in recent times, rarely leaves the pages of the newspapers here in South Africa and around the world.

Partnerships and networking are in vogue these days. Much of the impetus for adopting collaborative strategies comes from the financial crunch that most organizations face, it comes from the realization that partners possess and bring to partnership platforms unique and diverse strengths. Furthermore it comes from the acknowledgement and realization of the scope and enormity of problems needing to be tackled. It simply is not easily possible for one organization to go it alone. The development sector is not exempt from this reality. Many organizations are using partnerships to improve their competitive edge in the marketplace. I shall argue that in development, partnerships are by and large used to carry on the social activism, with a quest to improve the quality of life for society.

At this juncture, it is perhaps crucial to examine some of the context aspects that encourage partnerships, firstly in a developing economy; government cannot address all social challenges on its own. A communal approach is required to tackle the enormous issues. It becomes very evident in these instances that for society to win, it becomes primary and necessary that partners and stakeholders hunt in a pack.
The clear intent in this regard is to work in partnership with our government and other stakeholders to address national development challenges.
To build the nation, a social contract between business, society and government is essential. Through Public private partnerships, stakeholders endeavour to solve the development crisis in an interconnected fashion. Stakeholders engage in partnerships with a diverse partner base to address the social challenges. One of the admirable outcomes is achieving sustainable development beyond the narrow individualistic brand anchored focus.

It is perhaps necessary to interrogate what may be recognized as the positive benefits of partnerships:

Stakeholders seem to encourage, and sometimes mandate, partnerships not necessarily because partnering was the best way to achieve a particular set of objectives but because partnering is viewed as a sound way of how the social sector should operate, giving rise therefore to a practical commitment to the approach.

It is my view that successful and winning partnerships have certain qualities:

Crucial lessons can be learnt from using partnership engagements for driving change;

The moral is not to allow the indulgence of ideological biases to take focus, time and energy away from the purpose of the work

In its broadest sense, a partnership involves working together in a collaborative way, recognizing that partners bring something to the relationship that will help to achieve the desired outcome. It is also built on an understanding that in partnerships there is a collaborative approach, in which partners have a constructive joint voice in planning and implementing activity that adds value to the outcomes.

“Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other’s welfare, social justice can never be attained” Helen Keller

Key Concluding Points

• Public/private partnerships are viable strategies for orchestrating community resources to increase children’s access to safe and appropriate play spaces.
• Partnerships can succeed if core values of participants are compatible even if not identical.
• Partnerships need strong, flexible and optimistic leadership.
• Since partners carry different roles and bring different expertise to a collaborative, membership requires inter- and intra-group trust, comfort with role sharing, consensus building and compromise.
• Participants value membership in collaborations because they support institutional missions and values, and participants experience community, organizational and personal benefits.
• A public/private partnership, as a whole, can accomplish more than its individual parts.
• Successful social change is possible when partners focus on the shared value of improved community life.
  
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