National Dialogue struck by another major blow — ‘it cannot be built on haste’

Several South African legacy foundations have decided to withdraw from the National Dialogue preparatory task team to protect the integrity of the process, scheduled to kick off on 15 August.

These include the Steve Biko, Thabo Mbeki, Chief Albert Luthuli, Desmond and Leah Tutu, and FW de Klerk foundations, which issued a joint statement on Friday.

The foundations say the decision does not stem from apathy or lack of engagement but from the neglect of the National Dialogue’s fundamental principles.

“The National Dialogue is a generational opportunity to reconnect the people of South Africa to each other and to the democratic project,” the foundations said.

“But we cannot pursue that goal by cutting corners, centralising power, or rushing the process.”

The National Dialogue is planned to host over 13,400 ward dialogues and 50,000 citizen-led engagements over the next year to define a vision for the country over the next three decades.

In a recent statement, Minister in The Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said that the first convention, set to initiate the process, is “aimed at mobilising consensus on the focus areas for the National Dialogue.”

She added that the dialogue has already received overwhelming interest, with 737 organisations from more than 30 sectors registering to participate, “reflecting the strong desire among South Africans to shape their shared future.”

However, the foundations say that the Dialogue, which began as a citizen-led initiative, has fallen under government control.

As a result, there is a push for the convention to commence in mid-August, despite advice from sub-committee chairs. It says this sacrifices the citizen-led process “for the sake of expediency.”

Instead, they have proposed that the Convention be rescheduled to after 15 October to allow for adequate preparation, coherence, and participatory integrity.

“We will continue to champion the core principles at the heart of the National Dialogue: that it is citizen-led, and is committed to the fundamental transformation of South Africa for the benefit of all its people.”

“Deadlines cannot override substance. Dialogue cannot be built on haste.”

No agreed plan or budget

The civil societies say that aiming for expediency puts the National Dialogue at risk of becoming a performative process rather than one that creates a meaningful platform for engagement.

They argue that the National Convention on 15 August was intended to kick off the dialogue process, meant to be “community, sectoral, and citizen-led engagement.”

However, there is “no agreed plan for the rollout of the real dialogue”, making the National Convention premature.

According to the foundations, this lack of preparation has also been realised in the National Dialogue’s finances, with a confirmed and approved budget yet to be established, creating organisational risks.

“The push to proceed has created pressure to engage in emergency procurement, which may violate the Public Finance Act,” they say.

“We are unwilling to participate in a process that undermines the very principles, governance, and accountability values that the dialogue is meant to strengthen.”

Therefore, the foundations have withdrawn “to protect the long-term credibility and integrity” of the Dialogue.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse commented on the withdrawal, saying that “when civil society withdraws, it is clear there is something very wrong with the planned National Dialogue.”

The foundations are also not the first group to withdraw from the process, with the Democratic Alliance, a member of the Government of National Unity coalition, announcing that it would not be participating at the end of June.

“We will also actively mobilise against the National Dialogue to stop this obscene waste of R700 million,” DA leader John Steenhuisen said in June.

“[This starts] with a call on civil society to join us in demanding that the National Dialogue not proceed until President Ramaphosa fires ANC-corruption accused and other delinquents from the executive.”