Africa-Press – South-Africa. The foundations of former president Thabo Mbeki and other statesmen have announced their withdrawal from the August 15 convention of the national dialogue and its preparatory task team.
Financial concerns and a perceived shift away from a citizen-led initiative prompted the decision, the foundations representing the legacies of Steve Biko, Albert Luthuli, Oliver and Adelaide Tambo, Archbishop Desmond and Leah Tutu and former president FW de Klerk said on Friday.
“The decision does not represent a withdrawal from the national dialogue project itself. We propose the convention be rescheduled to after October 15, allowing for adequate preparation, coherence and participatory integrity.”
The announcement came despite a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday night in an attempt to resolve their concerns.
“What began as a citizen-led initiative has unfortunately shifted towards government control,” the foundations said.
“The rushed timeline, constrained logistics and limited interactive design mean the proposed convention no longer offers a meaningful platform for engagement. We cannot lend our names to a gathering that does not allow for genuine dialogue.”
An insider told TimesLIVE one of the foundations’ complaints to Ramaphosa was over a delayed funding transfer. To resolve this, the government had sourced support for accommodation and transport.
In their statement on Friday, the foundations said: “The continued absence of a confirmed, approved budget allocation and a last-minute commitment of initial funds has made sound preparation impossible. This raises real risks of a poorly organised and unaccountable process.”
They warned: “The push to proceed has created pressure to engage in emergency procurement, which may violate the Public Finance Management Act.”
The foundations said there are logistical challenges for the convention next week but also “deep disagreements within the preparatory task team over the nature of the dialogue, readiness, governance and risk”.
“Without shared clarity and alignment at the core of the process, moving ahead would be destabilising to the national effort.”
The dialogue, they said, “must be a vehicle for all South Africans to engage each other, and to engage across sectors and communities to build a collective vision and compact for South Africa”.
“It cannot be a government-led process, as this will undermine any credibility.”
To ensure it is inclusive, the foundations want 13,664 community and sectoral dialogues with 50,000 citizen-led dialogues.
“The national dialogue is a generational opportunity to reconnect the people of South Africa to each other and to the democratic project. But we cannot pursue the goal by cutting corners, centralising power or rushing the process.”
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