ActionSA, FF Plus, latest to pull out of National Dialogue convention, but civil society says event will go ahead
Parties cite concerns over credibility, governance and ANC's role, with both sending only observers instead.
President Ramaphosa insists the convention will go ahead, insists dialogue's success will be judged by its long-term outcomes.
The National Dialogue convention, scheduled to start on Friday, has received another blow, with ActionSA and the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) confirming they will not participate.
The withdrawals add to growing skepticism about the dialogue's credibility, following an earlier boycott by the DA and the withdrawal of six legacy foundations from the convention's preparatory structures.
However, on Monday, Boichoko Ditlhake, the chairperson of the national convention, a part of the National Dialogue, said the event will not be impacted by the withdrawals.
Ditlhake said: 'In a nutshell, there's no impact and there will be no impact. There are organisations in society which came on board strongly and demonstrated that South Africans can rise if the need arises.'
Ditlhake is from the Kagiso Trust and is part of civil society. 'As the convention organising committee, our task is to ensure that the National Dialogue process is handed over to a broadly representative steering committee that will be established at the first National Convention. There is no need for unnecessary delays,' he added.
ActionSA: Concerns unresolved, will send observers
In a statement on Wednesday, ActionSA said it remained unconvinced that concerns raised by key stakeholders and the public had been addressed.
The party criticised what it described as an 'insistence on forging ahead despite serious, unresolved questions, particularly regarding the lawful appropriation of the budget'.
'Consequently, ActionSA will not participate in or lend legitimacy to a process under these circumstances,' the statement read.
Instead, the party will deploy two senior MPs, Kgosi Letlape and Lerato Ngobeni, to attend the convention purely in an observation capacity, with all travel and accommodation costs covered personally.
Our representatives will travel, be accommodated and catered for at their personal cost, and will attend this weekend's convention with the sole mandate of delivering a critical assessment of whether this process will serve as a meaningful platform for reform or is merely an electioneering exercise that misappropriates public funds under the guise of public participation.
ActionSA
The party stressed that the dialogue was not solely an ANC initiative, but a commitment made by all government of national unity (GNU) parties.
'These parties now refuse to take responsibility for the process… leaving a void that demands scrutiny,' it said.
READ: Foundations still part of National Dialogue, just not part of 15 August gathering, says Ramaphosa
Gallo Images/Beeld/Deaan Vivier
FF Plus: Dialogue needed, but not with ANC at the helm
FF Plus leader Corne Mulder said the party believed dialogue is essential, but accused the ANC of being incapable of leading a credible process.
Unfortunately, it has become abundantly clear that the ANC, as the largest party in the GNU, is not ready to have a genuine, reasoned and solution-oriented dialogue.
Corne Mulder
He cited recent ANC statements reaffirming its controversial economic and foreign policy positions, including BEE, expropriation without compensation, and race-based legislation, as evidence of an unwillingness to change course.
'A political party with such a mindset… cannot act as a credible facilitator for the Presidency or a participant in a national dialogue,' he said.
The FF Plus has also opted to send only an observer, its CEO Pieter de Necker, to monitor the proceedings. Mulder suggested that 'an honest national dialogue' should take place without the ANC and invited other GNU parties to collaborate on practical solutions that prioritise the country's interests.
Wider political scepticism
The boycott by ActionSA and the FF Plus adds to an already crowded field of sceptics. The DA has refused to participate in either the first national convention or the broader dialogue process.
The EFF and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party have dismissed the initiative entirely, with the parties labelling it a 'publicity stunt'.
Their concerns echo those raised last week by the six legacy foundations representing the legacies of Steve Biko, Thabo Mbeki, Chief Albert Luthuli, Oliver and Adelaide Tambo, FW de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond and Leah Tutu.
The foundations accused the presidency of undermining the dialogue's citizen-led character, pushing ahead with a poorly prepared convention and risking a 'symbolic rather than substantive' event.
They also cited funding delays, alleged governance misalignment and fears of potential violations of the Public Finance Management Act due to emergency procurement processes.
READ: Ramaphosa's national dialogue slammed as 'meaningless', 'elitist farce' by opposition
Ramaphosa unfazed
President Cyril Ramaphosa has sought to downplay the withdrawals, insisting last week that the first convention would proceed as planned on 15 August.
'The withdrawal of the foundations is not a train smash. The dialogue is going to go ahead,' Ramaphosa said. 'What mattered was the outcome, which will chart a very clear path to where our country should be going in the next 30 years and more.'
Ramaphosa confirmed that the convention will elect a steering committee to oversee the rollout planned of community and sectoral dialogues nationwide, as part of a multi-year process to develop a new social compact.
A dialogue in doubt
The National Dialogue was first proposed by former president Mbeki ahead of last year's general elections, to build consensus on tackling SA's deep-rooted challenges, from inequality to broken state institutions.
However, with key opposition parties, influential foundations and civil society voices now sitting out the first convention, the initiative faces an uphill battle to maintain credibility and inclusivity.
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