The Labour Party said on Friday that it has received notice from the lawyers representing the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, the Steve Biko Foundation and the Chief Albert Luthuli Foundation of their intention to intervene in the party’s urgent High Court application to interdict President Cyril Ramaphosa’s National Dialogue process.

Earlier this month, Ramaphosa announced that in the wake of government’s engagements with various entities, there was broad agreement on the need to convene a National Dialogue, given the challenges facing the country.

He revealed that a National Convention, which will set the agenda for the National Dialogue, will be held on August 15.

The Labour Party argues that the National Dialogue is “unconstitutional, irrational, fiscally irresponsible", and excludes the working class.

The party seeks to halt all further implementation and expenditure, citing the duplication of existing democratic structures and the estimated R700-million to R800-million cost as unjustifiable in the current economic climate.

The case is set to be heard on July 1.

The Foundations are arguing that they have a direct interest in the outcome owing to their role in convening the National Dialogue.

Labour Party interim president Joseph Mathunjwa said the Foundations were the public face of what it described as a “parallel governance project”.

“We already have a Parliament … a democratically elected institution with the constitutional authority to host debate, process laws, and hold the executive to account. If Parliament is functional, why create a new platform for the same purpose. This is not inclusion – it is circumvention,” he argued and warned of unjustifiable public expenditure.

He further questioned the Dialogue’s political neutrality, claiming that the dialogue was a “rubber stamp” for International Monetary Fund (IMF) instructions.

“This dialogue is being used to give cover to the IMF and World Bank agenda of privatising State-owned entities, facilitating private power producers, and unbundling Eskom, all under the guise of a so-called national social compact,” Mathunjwa alleged.

He further accused civil society of working with government to bypass Parliament and the Constitution and of trying to delay the upcoming hearing.

“This is a textbook attempt to muddy the waters and frustrate our quest for justice. They [government] missed the deadline [to file answering papers], and now they’re bringing in reinforcements to stall the process and give political cover.  But we are ready,” Mathunjwa warned.