TTPod 3.11: "Beneath the Tip of Iceberg" - In Pursuit of Harmony and a Multicultural South Africa with Revs. Andrew Esterhuizen and Bossie Muller

Talking Transformation

In TTPod 1.4 “A Tour of Duty and of Service” - we highlighted the issue of healing in communities and peacemaking with the World Bank Group’s Dr Jana el Horr. Several years on from that podcast we revisit the theme, specifically the multicultural dimensions of building trust, understanding and collaboration within and between communities. Our guests are Reverends Andrew Esterhuizen and Bossie Muller. The two of them have taken their own extensive personal expertise in working with communities into Culture Connect, a cultural diversity project falling under the Unit for Reconciliation and Justice in the Beyers Naude Centre for Public Theology (BNC) at the University of Stellenbosch. They have worked extensively with communities, municipalities, businesses and corporates. Bossie and Andrew explain the four platforms underpinning the Culture Connect methodology and why these are relevant to the transformation of our communities in 2023 almost three decades on from the democratic era in South Africa. Their approach to facilitating "courageous conversations", and fostering healing and understanding between community groups is compelling and thought-provoking for any listener engaged in capacity building and planning with communities. The episode is a reminder that there’s so often a need to go beyond the attention-grabbing headlines and deeper into the symptoms and issues that cause the conflict and damage. Recorded 22nd August 2023