Following the withdrawal of seven legacy foundations from the upcoming National Dialogue Preparatory Task Team, the Solidarity Movement and its institutions, AfriForum and Solidarity, have announced their withdrawal from the precursor National Convention, starting on Friday.

The Movement attributed the decision to its belief that the National Dialogue has been “hijacked” by the African National Congress (ANC).

Last week, the Steve Biko Foundation, Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Chief Albert Luthuli Foundation, Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation, FW de Klerk Foundation, Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation and the Strategic Dialogue Group said the Dialogue had become compromised.

The foundations called for a postponement of the National Dialogue to allow for adequate preparation, coherence and participatory integrity, citing violations of the dialogue’s core principles.

The National Convention kicks off on August 15 and 16 at the ZK Matthews Hall, at Unisa, in Pretoria, and marks the beginning of the National Dialogue process, which will roll out over the next few months across the country in the form of public dialogues in different communities and sectors.

On Monday, the National Convention organising committee chairperson Boichoko Ditlhake led a media briefing to present a public update on the Convention and Dialogue, following the controversy around the legacy foundations' withdrawals last week.

He acknowledged the withdrawals but asserted that the process needed to swiftly continue.

The Solidarity Movement said while it agreed with the need for engagement and dialogue to address South Africa’s challenges, it believed the planned Dialogue would be fruitless.

“The reason is that it appears that the ANC wants to hijack the intended National Dialogue to try to win back lost support, rather than to find answers to the crises. That is why the Solidarity Movement supports the various foundations that have decided not to attend the dialogue on Friday, and we will also not be there.

"There is no sense in placing the party responsible for the country’s decline in charge of a National Dialogue,” said Solidarity Movement chairperson Flip Buys.

He said his organisation would adopt a “wait and see” approach on the process.

Meanwhile, the Movement accused the ANC of double standards for calling for a dialogue when it had allegedly previously failed to listen to stakeholders.

“The experience is that the ANC would rather conduct an ANC monologue than participate in national dialogues. The ANC has dominated all previous talks, using them merely as forums to try to sell its policies, rather than forums where they could listen to suggestions on how to adapt their unworkable policies,” said Buys.

Further, he claimed that previous commitments made by the ANC had been unfulfilled, to the detriment of the country.

The Solidarity Movement is calling for community dialogues instead, which it believes are more effective.

Buys pointed to “failed ANC policies”, and blamed the party for making South Africa a target in US President Donald Trump’s tariff roll-out.

Relations between South Africa and Trump’s administration came to a head earlier this year, after the signing of the Expropriation Act, tensions which many believe were exacerbated by the Solidarity Movement and its members, AfriForum and Solidarity, lobbying the US.

However, the Solidarity Movement and its organisations have instead blamed the South African government, and particularly the ANC, for alienating the US and straining tensions.

“The country needs new and fresh ideas because the old ANC ideas have failed, and it will be of no use to simply recycle them. Millions of people have suffered long enough under the ANC’s leadership,” he said.

Solidarity CEO Dirk Hermann claimed that the State was hijacking spontaneous community dialogue, crediting legacy foundations for the idea of the National Dialogue.

“Some of the foundations were central to it. It is precisely because of a deep rift with the government that people want to talk about a different kind of dispensation. The government feels threatened by this type of dialogue and has decided to hijack it,” he stated.

Solidarity will take part in community dialogues, he added, and stated that the ANC could not be trusted with the process.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel also blamed South Africa’s current economic predicament on the ANC’s policies and corruption, saying, as a result, the party could not be trusted to find solutions to the issues facing the economy and South Africans.

He described the upcoming National Dialogue as a “government-driven national monologue”.

“It is essential that we talk to find solutions. AfriForum therefore emphasises that the National Dialogue should shift from a State-driven process to a citizen-driven process. In the meantime, we are proceeding at full steam with discussions with other cultural communities for genuine dialogue, as well as for joint projects,” Kriel said.