ActionSA snubs National Dialogue, sends MPs to monitor spending

ActionSA has announced that it will not formally participate in the upcoming National Dialogue Convention, citing unresolved concerns over the process and the legality of its funding.

The party revealed it will instead send two senior Members of Parliament, Dr Kgosi Letlape and Lerato Ngobeni, to attend in an observation capacity only.

IOL previously reported that several legacy foundations, including the Steve Biko Foundation, Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Chief Albert Luthuli Foundation, Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, WDB Foundation, Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation, and the Strategic Dialogue Group, withdrew from the dialogue last Friday.

In a joint statement issued on Friday, the group said the decision was made with “deep regret” but was necessary to protect the process’s credibility and integrity.

They accused the organisers of shifting the initiative away from its citizen-led origins towards government control.

“What began as a citizen-led initiative has unfortunately in practice shifted towards government control,” the statement read.

AfriForum, the Solidarity union, and the Freedom Front Plus have also pulled out.

 ActionSA Parliamentary Leader Athol Trollip said the party expressed its disapproval of the event’s organisation, saying there had been no meaningful engagement with stakeholders or parliamentary committees, particularly regarding how the convention was budgeted for.

“ActionSA remains unconvinced that any of the concerns raised by key stakeholders, organisers and the broader public have been addressed,” Trollip said.

“There is an insistence on forging ahead despite serious, unresolved questions, particularly regarding the lawful appropriation of the budget, a matter on which no parliamentary committee has been duly engaged.”

He confirmed that ActionSA would not “participate in or lend legitimacy to a process under these circumstances,” but clarified that the party would still exercise its oversight role.

“Recognising that the dialogue will proceed regardless, we will not be absent from our duty to exercise oversight over a process funded by taxpayers,” Trollip said.

Trollip said the two MPs attending the convention will do so at their own personal expense and will have a strict mandate to observe and assess whether the event is “a meaningful platform for reform” or “merely an electioneering exercise that misappropriates public funds under the guise of public participation.”

He also criticised the Government of National Unity (GNU), accusing its parties of abandoning accountability.

“The only reason we are confronted with this fraught National Dialogue is that all parties in the GNU committed to it through the signed statement of intent. Yet, these parties now refuse to take responsibility for the process or to exercise any oversight over its unfolding,” he said.

ActionSA said it would step in to “safeguard the interests of South Africans and ensure proper oversight and accountability over every cent spent on this National Dialogue.”

hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za

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