The first of The Inkathalo Conversations will focus on homelessness in the City of Cape Town. 

The word Inkathalo originates from the Xhosa phrase that means “to show deep care for someone who is crying and showing deep emotion while crying.” It is a phrase that reaches out to the other – it is filled with empathy and concern for the other’s wellbeing. 

Inkathalo is about being human towards what we see in front of us – of being moved by the other’s tears so that it compels us to act and do something that will stop their tears and bring light and sunshine to their eyes once again. Taking broken stories and turning them into conversations of hope and inspiration, it looks towards a bright future in which care, and concern will become the standards for normal life. Finally, Inkathalo is about justice – it is about making sure that the things which caused hurt, pain and suffering are removed, and that justice prevails – a justice that makes people smile and not cry. Because we love all, Inkathalo is not about destroying and hurting – it’s about building and healing.

It is where the story of the other is received without judgement, where we uphold the idea that “at the point of encounter there are neither utter ignoramuses nor perfect sages; there are only people who are attempting, together, to learn more than they now know” (Paulo Freire).  It is about holding conversations that dries the tears of the nation and replaces it with the joy of a better future. And so, we speak with care about the individual and the state, about the neighbourhood and the corporation, about the street and the office block, and about the suburb and the township.

The purpose of holding Inkathalo Conversations is to hold conversations that demonstrate care – where we listen with care, we speak with care, we ponder with care.  Therefore, this is The Inkathalo Conversations – a conversation to advance and deepen who we are as a people, as a country and as a democracy.