Various SA foundations warm up to Ramaphosa's announcement of a National Dialogue
The organisations, including the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Nelson Mandela Foundation, and Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, were not part of Ramaphosa's announcement on Tuesday night.
He named 31 prominent South Africans from varying sectors of society, who will be championing and guiding the national convention.
A national dialogue preparatory committee says South Africans have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reclaim the country's agency.
ALSO READ: National dialogue will be an important forum to set out mandate & term of GNU - political analyst
They've encouraged everyday South Africans to participate in the event, aimed at shaping and recreating the country's future, adding that the venture has to be led by citizens and not the government in order to close the gap between the two.
More than 50 organisations backed the foundations' call for a dialogue last year.
Meanwhile, the government says the president's eminent persons group will be a fluid structure, with more names likely to be added along the way
It also notes the importance of obsessing over the mission of the dialogue as opposed to individuals associated with it.
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eNCA
2 hours ago
- eNCA
DA accuses ANC of double standards
JOHANNESBURG- Political drama is heating up in the Government of National Unity (GNU). The DA says the ANC is playing favourites by firing Deputy Minister, Andrew Whitfield but letting Minister Nobuhle Nkabane off the hook despite serious allegations. On Tuesday, the DA hit back by laying charges against Nkabane for allegedly spinning a web of lies about an independent panel that greenlit political appointments to SETA boards. With budget votes on the horizon, the DA is gearing up to call out corruption where they see it. Political analyst, Ntsikelelo Breakfast says the DA wants to expose how President Cyril Ramaphosa according to them was applying double standards. "On the one hand the President dismisses on of [DA's own] for not getting approval for a trip he was not ment to undertake, but on the other hand turns a blind eye to some of the members of the executive who have been at fault," he said. While Breakfast says he sympathies with the DA, he disagrees with the party on how they have responded to this matter in terms of their announcements of pulling out from the National Dialogue.
IOL News
4 hours ago
- IOL News
DA backtracks on motion of no confidence, commits to GNU
DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille says her party will abandon tabling the motion of no confidence against President Cyril Ramaphosa "for now". Image: Cindy Waxa / Independent Newspapers The DA has backtracked on its threat to implement a motion of no confidence against President Cyril Ramaphosa, despite tensions between the two parties. DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille confirmed on Tuesday that her party would not be proceeding with the motion "for now", but emphasised that they would not be bullied by the ANC within the Government of National Unity (GNU). Experts have viewed the move by the DA leader as "grandstanding" and "seeking attention" because the party knows that they can't afford to leave the GNU. The DA and the ANC have been at loggerheads since the axing of Trade and Industry deputy minister Andrew Whitfield last week, resulting in the DA announcing that it would be withdrawing from the National Dialogue. Video Player is loading. 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Next Stay Close ✕ The party has since accused Ramaphosa of double standards, saying that he condoned corruption after he became mum following the DA's calls to fire Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane. Nkabane is embroiled in the appointment of boards for Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). Political analysts have weighed the situation, with some suggesting that the DA is grandstanding with their threats. Professor Sipho Seepe said that the DA is grandstanding and that the market would quickly self-correct if the rand were to crash. "The DA likes grandstanding. Yes, the rand may crash, but the market will quickly self-correct. "Having said this, the ANC is unlikely to kick the DA out of the GNU. The GNU is big business. The very big business had funded Ramaphosa's presidency. Ramaphosa is unlikely to bite the hand that feeds him," Seepe said. He said the DA hated the idea of the ANC, EFF, and the MK Party government so much that it would rather stick it out. "Besides, the decision to walk out of the GNU will be dictated by big business, not Helen Zille…The same applies to the idea of tabling the motion of no confidence… Such a step would leave the ANC with no option but to kick the DA out of this marriage of inconvenience. It is a gamble that many in the DA would frown upon," Seepe said. Another analyst, Sandile Swana, said Zille's reasons for staying in the GNU were arbitrary and not scientifically grounded. "The DA has not been able to grow the economy by more than 2% in the Western Cape. They have lingered around 2% but it was required to grow at 5.4%. The DA has governed the Western Cape and Cape Town for some time. There is increased unemployment in the province and the metro, more than in any other province in the country. "The DA and big business are using the GNU to prevent the MKP and the EFF from being part of the government," Swana said. He said if an opportunity would present itself, the EFF would take up a place in the GNU and continue working with Ramaphosa as they did not agree that Ramaphosa handled the Phala Phala matter correctly. Zille said that while the DA has the numbers to potentially outvote the president, they would instead take intermediate steps to address their concerns. "The president can fire us from the GNU, and there are many people from the ANC wishing that he would fire us. But here is the thing, if he fires us the rand will crash, the economy will go into a tailspin, investors will withdraw, unemployment will increase, and we will probably be pushed out of AGOA and tariffs will go up." Zille, however, said that it did not mean that her party would be bullied by the ANC within the GNU and that they had a plan if Ramaphosa booted out the DA from the GNU.
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
DA ministers face insubordination warning as tensions with ANC escalate
Siyabonga Sithole and Nicola Daniels | Published 1 day ago ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has challenged the DA to leave the Government of National Unity (GNU) following the party's recent threat to boycott the upcoming National Dialogue. The confrontation between the two parties follows hot on the heels of President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent axing of former deputy minister Andrew Whitfield, who apparently undertook an unauthorised trip to the United States. DA leader John Steenhuisen, addressing the media on Saturday slammed Ramaphosa's decision to fire Whitfield, claiming it was indicative of the president's inconsistent approach to governance while also "threatening to destabilise the GNU unless all so-called delinquent ANC ministers are removed from their positions within 48 hours. When Ramaphosa ignored the DA's ultimatum, Steenhuisen announced that the DA would not participate in the National Dialogue and that it would vote against upcoming departmental budget votes for the departments headed by Minister Thembi Simelane, Minister Nobuhle Nkabane, and other corruption-accused ANC ministers. Speaking during the 3rd day of the OR Tambo Regional Conference in the Eastern Cape yesterday, Mbalula said that the GNU is not a permanent feature but a temporary partnership among all the coalition parties. Mbalula stated that the ANC and Ramaphosa will not be bullied and disrespected by the DA and its leaders who continuously threaten to destabilse the GNU. "We are not at the mercy of the DA. We are in this coalition because we respected the outcomes of the elections and the interests of the people of South Africa. That is why we have characterised this as a strategic setback. "It is not a permanent feature. The GNU is not a melting pot. We did say that there are ten political parties in the GNU and the DA did not want this. Now, I see why they did not want this as they wanted to squeeze us and put us in a corner, but we turned the tables around and we put them in our own trap. Now they are in a deeper trap," he added. Meanwhile DA ministers intending to boycott the National Dialogue will have to provide Ramaphosa with valid reasons for their non-attendance or their absence will be regarded as insubordination, says the Presidency. The Inter-Ministerial Committee(IMC) on the National Dialogue appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa includes DA leader John Steenhuisen as Agriculture Minister. 'Any member of Cabinet who wishes to no longer participate in the IMC will have to provide reasons to the President. Hopefully, they'll also think about the consequences of such insubordination. Because that's how the President will regard any non-participation as insubordination," said Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said. The ANC has weighed in on the DA's latest move, saying: "This response speaks volumes about the DA's character, they are willing to undermine national interests in pursuit of their narrow partisan agenda. "The ANC firmly believes that this dialogue is not merely an event, it is a critical process in pursuit of social compacting, unity, and national renewal. At this juncture, it is imperative for the DA to clarify its stance: is it a genuine and principled partner in the GNU, or is it positioning itself as a quasi-opposition within the executive.' The National Dialogue aims to address South Africa's ongoing challenges, such as poverty, crime, inequality and unemployment, which continue despite 30 years of democracy. University of the Free Political Studies and Governance lecturer Sanet Solomon said the DA's moves in the GNU could damage its supporter base. "The DAs decision to withdraw itself from the National Dialogue sends a message to its supporters that it is 'actively standing up' against the ANC and that it is not passively going along with all its decisions. This display of ' showmanship' is just a façade as the party cannot leave the GNU without damaging its support base. 'Post May-2024 it (the DA) tried convincing voters that allying with the GNU would result in better governance and a reduction in corruption. Should it leave the GNU now, its voting base might revert to the FF+, the Good Party, the Patriotic Alliance and others as they may believe that the DA cannot co-govern with others. Should the DA stay, it would be stuck trying to convince its supporters that it has influence in the GNU's decision-making. Either way, they are stuck in a catch-22," said Solomon. Efforts to reach both DA spokespeople, Willie Aucamp and Karabo Khakhau were unsuccessful yesterday. THE MERCURY
