President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a scathing attack on Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen for his decision to withdraw from the National Dialogue.
This comes in the wake of former president Thabo Mbeki’s open letter to Steenhuisen after announcing his party’s boycott of the dialogue.
The much talked about National Dialogue will see South Africans from all walks of life coming to discuss the kind of South Africa they want.
Related video | DA withdraws from National Dialogue:
An Open Letter from President Thabo Mbeki, the Patron of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, addressed to DA leader John Steenhuisen—dated 3 July 2025—in which he responds to the DA’s withdrawal from the National Dialogue pic.twitter.com/LCyrn0fEvp
— Thabo Mbeki Foundation (@TMFoundation_) July 3, 2025
Ramaphosa says Steenhuisen’s withdrawal from the gathering amounts to poverty of adherence to good principles.
He says this is ironic for the party that claims to represent the people to simply walk away from them.
“Really its poverty of adherence to good principles, to walk away from the people of SA because this is precisely walking away from the people of SA and defining yourself outside what the people of SA are embracing. Nothing wrong with the dialogue, it is people getting together. So, what I can say is that the National Dialogue will continue without the participation of the DA and we would probably have a successful dialogue without diversionary inputs or interference from the party that does not have the interest of South Africans at heart,” says Ramaphosa.
“The National Dialogue is a platform for all South Africans to craft a shared vision of the kind of a society we seek to build and agree on the actions we need to take to realise that vision. The dialogue will proceed as planned.”
~President @CyrilRamaphosa #AustriaInSA pic.twitter.com/hcB5O9fFBR
— The Presidency
(@PresidencyZA) July 4, 2025
Politics – SABC News – Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa’s news leader.