Steenhuisen stands by DA's decision to pull out of upcoming National Dialogue
In his reply to Mbeki’s open letter, where the former president questioned the DA’s decision to pull out of the dialogue, Steenhuisen defended his party’s stance.
FILE: DA leader John Steenhuisen addressed a media briefing on 28 January 2025. Picture: Thabiso Goba/EWN
Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader John Steenhuisen has described former president Thabo Mbeki’s assertion that all Government of National Unity (GNU) parties must take part in the National Dialogue as disingenuous, given that Mbeki only consulted the ANC when the coalition government was being set up.
In his reply to Mbeki’s open letter, where the former president questioned the DA’s decision to pull out of the dialogue, Steenhuisen defended his party’s stance.
The DA withdrew from the process last month after Andrew Whitfield was fired as Deputy Minister for Trade, Industry and Competition.
The party’s withdrawal has sparked criticism from several quarters, with Mbeki questioning why the DA forms part of the GNU if it refuses to engage in such initiatives.
In his open letter, Mbeki discloses that he advised the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) on launching a National Dialogue and how it should be structured.
Replying to this letter, Steenhuisen argues this reinforces the DA’s concern that the dialogue is nothing more than an ANC electioneering tool ahead of next year’s municipal elections.
He further highlights that the DA and other parties were neither consulted nor given the courtesy of sharing an opinion before the idea was put forward.
For these reasons, Steenhuisen says there is no justification for the DA to join what he describes as an expensive ANC talk shop.
“You explain how you attended an ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting sometime after June 2024, where you persuaded the ANC to accept your bona fides as a non-government organizer of this dialogue. You say how you were able to advise the ANC NEC that the larger part of civil society would not attend a national dialogue organized either by the ANC or the GNU. In short, the idea of the national dialogue has been strategized and planned for some time between you and the ANC, with no similar courtesy extended to any other political party in the GNU. This confirms that this national dialogue is a creature of the ANC that has been sprung upon the public with the disingenuous claim it is an ‘inclusive’ process,” Steenhuisen wrote.
With the cost to hold the dialogue projected to exceed R700 million, Steenhuisen insists the DA will not back an initiative which he believes squanders public money.