Legitimacy crisis looms over National Dialogue as organisations withdraw

Just two days before its scheduled start, the National Dialogue is facing a crisis of legitimacy, with several organisations withdrawing their participation due to concerns over transparency, funding, and the ANC's intentions. 

More organisations have withdrawn from the National Dialogue, citing concerns over its legitimacy, transparency, and effectiveness.

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) has questioned the financing of the event, while the Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA, Solidarity, and Afrikaner Leierskapsnetwerk (Afrikaner Leadership Network, ALN) have all announced their decision not to participate.

This follows the withdrawal less than a week ago of the Mbeki Foundation and other prominent legacy foundations, including the Steve Biko Foundation, Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation, and FW de Klerk Foundation, from the ambitious event.

The foundations stated that a key factor in the decision was the uncertainty regarding the R700 million allegedly allocated for the National Dialogue.

They also cited concerns over the rushed timeline, inadequate preparation, and shift towards government control as reasons for their withdrawal.

The MK Party has questioned who will finance the dialogue and slammed it as an "expensive sideshow" designed to bypass Parliament and give the Presidency unchecked influence over policy-making.

“The Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), whose duty is to guard against waste and ensure that government spending addresses urgent national priorities, has disgracefully allowed public resources to be poured into a politically engineered 'Convention' that has no legal mandate, no parliamentary approval, and no place in the constitutional order.

“Deputy President Paul Mashatile and his Inter-Ministerial Committee have no authority to set up alternative governance platforms with public funds. This is not citizen-led, it is ANC-led, and the DPME's silence shows that it has been reduced to a rubber stamp for the Presidency's pet projects,” the MK Party said through its spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndlela.

The party further highlighted the neglect of essential services in various provinces while funds are being poured into the National Dialogue.

Some of the issues cited include rural clinics closed due to medicine shortages and unpaid staff, communities in eThekwini going weeks without clean water, schools without desks forcing children to sit on the floor, and ambulance response times stretching beyond four hours, among other concerns.

The VF Plus believes the ANC-led government is not ready for genuine dialogue and has refused to abandon its failed economic and foreign policies.

"A political party with such a mindset and approach cannot act as a credible facilitator for the Presidency or a participant in a national dialogue," the party said.

ActionSA said that while they would not fully participate, they would deploy two senior Members of Parliament as observers to monitor and exercise oversight over the convention. 

"We will not participate in or lend legitimacy to a process under these circumstances," ActionSA said.

Solidarity Movement and AfriForum said the ANC had hijacked the National Dialogue and would not participate. 

"The ANC wants to hijack the intended National Dialogue to try to win back lost support, rather than to find answers to the crisis," said Flip Buys, chairperson of the Solidarity Movement.

Afrikaner Leadership Network (ALN) expressed concerns about the lack of transparency and openness in the planned process and will not participate in the National Convention.

However, the Presidency has confirmed that the inaugural National Convention of the National Dialogue will proceed on August 15-16, saying it would be formally launching a constitutionally mandated process aimed at developing a national compact for transformation, despite all concerns.

The ANC has noted the decision by several National Legacy Foundations and organisations to withdraw from the Preparatory Task Team of the National Dialogue and urged the government to urgently address the concerns raised.

Without outright saying it was in support of the event, the party said it believed the National Dialogue must be rooted in inclusive participation, guided by the spirit of the Constitution and liberation values. 

“The ANC reaffirms that the process is about building trust, healing social divisions, and forging national unity through broad-based societal engagement.”

mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za