The credibility of the government's multimillion-rand national dialogue has been further dented by the withdrawal of six legacy foundations, which object to the event being led by the government instead of the citizenry of this country.
They also object to the rushed process and lack of confirmed financial resources for the plans and have proposed that the national convention planned for August 15 be rescheduled to after October 15 to allow for proper preparation.
The DA, the second-biggest party in the government of national unity (GNU), has already indicated it will not participate in the national convention of the national dialogue planned for August 15. It said the event had been hijacked by the ANC for its own political purposes.
ActionSA also indicated on Friday that it would reconsider its participation in the national dialogue in the light of concerns raised by key stakeholders and organisers, “as well as the discontent expressed by South Africans who see this as yet another round of endless talk shops while urgent action remains absent”.
“Central to our reconsideration is the fact that we are not prepared to lend credibility to what many already believe to be a window-dressing exercise that risks becoming a government directed platform, as several respected legacy foundations have suggested,” ActionSA's Athol Trollip said.
He said that South Africans were now saddled “with a crumbling process with diminishing credibility”.
The following foundations have indicated that they will not be participating in the national dialogue and in the work of the preparatory task team (PTT): Steve Biko Foundation, Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Chief Albert Luthuli Foundation, Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, FW de Klerk Foundation, Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation and the Strategic Dialogue Group.
In a joint statement Friday the foundations said they were withdrawing from the PTT and the national dialogue “because we believe that core principles meant to underpin the whole national dialogue have been violated in the rush to host a gathering on August 15”.
“We remain committed to the belief that all aspects of the national dialogue must be credible, principled, and anchored in public trust,” the groups said in the statement.
The foundations said they believed the national dialogue must be citizen-led and a vehicle for meaningful collective social engagement to build a collective vision and compact for SA.
“It cannot be a government-led process, as this will undermine any credibility. The national dialogue is not a government or public consultation process.”
It was also crucial, the foundations said, that the national dialogue be transparent and accountable, with no space for corruption or mismanagement of funds in its processes. “What began as a citizen-led initiative has unfortunately in practice shifted towards government control.
They said principles and the important nature of being a citizen-led process were being sacrificed for the sake of expediency.
“The rushed timeline, constrained logistics and limited interactive design mean that the proposed convention no longer offers a meaningful platform for engagement. The structure risks becoming symbolic rather than substantive — more performance than participation. We cannot lend our names to a gathering that does not allow for genuine dialogue.”
Furthermore, the foundations said, the national convention was envisaged as a kickoff event for the real heart of the national dialogue, which would be a community, sectoral and citizen-led engagement. But as yet, there was no agreed plan for the roll out of the real dialogue, and therefore the national convention was premature.
The foundations also raised the issue of the lack of a confirmed, approved budget allocation for the event, which had made sound preparation impossible and raised the risk of a poorly organised and unaccountable process. The lack of resourcing had affected the logistical readiness for the convention, they said.
The statement noted that there were deep disagreements within the PTT over the nature of the national dialogue, readiness, governance and risk.
“Fixation on the August 15 date risks turning the convention into a performative milestone, rather than a meaningful launch of a national process. Deadlines cannot override substance. Dialogue cannot be built on haste.
“The national dialogue is a generational opportunity to reconnect the people of SA to each other and to the democratic project. But we cannot pursue that goal by cutting corners, centralising power or rushing the process,” the foundations said in the statement.
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