New Liberal Highlight: Donald Tlaka
Donald Tlaka is the Chapter Lead for Johannesburg New Liberals, a Center for New Liberalism Steering Committee member, and Current Affairs Anchor on Vuka Radio . He is also a contributing writer to the African Congress of Journalists and the Editor of of the Johannesburg New Liberal’s newsletter, Through The Lens of a Liberal.
What drove you to the Center for New Liberalism, and what does it mean to you to be a New Liberal?
What drove me to be part of the Center for New Liberalism are the values it's standing for which are now under threat both here in South Africa and other parts of the world. I believe that our work here in South Africa will help safeguard these values.
In today's political landscape, being a Liberal in South Africa means that I have to cut through the noise and conflict with populist and nationalist agendas, while pushing for reforms that balance economic freedom with social responsibility and inclusivity, being able to express myself without fear, and create an environment where human rights are being respected and everyone being equal before the law.
You've just launched a newsletter for the Johannesburg New Liberals, titled "Through the Lens of a Liberal". Can you tell us a little more about it, and what kind of articles you're focused on elevating?
Through the Lens of a Liberal is conceptualized to provide a platform for exchange of ideas and views from active citizenry on the socioeconomic matters and to enable intellectual and policy discourse on matters related to socio-economic, political economy and environmental sustainability in South Africa within the context of global geopolitics. We just launched our first edition of the newsletter, which you can learn more about here: https://throughthelensofaliberal.substack.com/p/editors-note-september-edition
As the Johannesburg New Liberals chapter lead, you have hosted four policy roundtables over the past few months. Which topics were discussed during these policy roundtables, and how have these discussions advanced liberal ideas in Johannesburg?
Through our policy roundtables, we’ve covered the some of the following:
The State of the South African Economy which looked at fiscal policies that can be adopted to unleash growth and transforming the economy.
Reorganizing the role of labour movements in building a developmental state which looked into how can labour influence government policies
Leading the just transition explored the role of mining communities in the just transition journey and also the role of financial sector in the transition.
Strengthening the South African democracy which engaged with civil society on their role in safeguarding our democracy and the rule of law.
These discussions have advanced liberal ideas in Johannesburg in many ways, but one cool thing that’s come out of them is that there is a general understanding that the focus should be on market-driven reforms, innovation and the creation of a more competitive and sustainable environment, by focusing on the following ideas:
Market Liberalization
Deregulation - removing bureaucratic red tape, especially in sectors such as energy and manufacturing.
Attracting more foreign investment
Reducing government debt
