Representatives from civil society, social partners, the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), the University of South Africa (Unisa) and the Presidency will now form part of an organising committee to run the upcoming National Convention, after seven legacy foundations withdraw from its preparatory task team on Friday.

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 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 noted the Dialogue had become compromised.

“The rushed timeline, constrained logistics, and limited interactive design mean that the proposed Convention no longer offers a meaningful platform for engagement,” the foundations said in a joint statement on Friday.

The foundations warned that the Dialogue risked becoming symbolic rather than substantive.

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 communities and sectors.

The National Convention organising committee chairperson Boichoko Ditlhake led a media briefing on Monday to present a public update on the convention and dialogue, following the controversy last week.

He acknowledged the withdrawal of the foundations but asserted that the process needed to swiftly continue.

“The convention organising committee includes volunteers from around 20 civil society organisations. As the convention organising committee, our task is to ensure that the National Dialogue process is handed over to a broadly representative steering committee that will be established at the first National Convention. There is no need for unnecessary delays,” Ditlhake said.

He added that the process needed to be handed over to civil society, citizens and citizen organisations and said no one group should control the venture, as had been the concern from many parts of society. He stressed that the National Dialogue was decentralised by design.

The cost of the National Convention had also been a point of contention since it was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in June, when he said that there was broad agreement from government’s engagements with various entities on the need to convene a National Dialogue, given the challenges facing the country.

Ditlhake assured that support and contributions from various stakeholders had helped to reduce the cost of the Convention, including from host Unisa, which he said had provided associated goods, facilities and services free of charge.

“The reduced costs associated with the hosting of the National Dialogue and the funding plan are done with the intention to reduce the burden on the national fiscus. The total budget for the National Dialogue will be developed as a structure . . . the community dialogues are finalised by the National Convention and will depend on in-kind contributions, donations and other sources that can be mobilised, and will be mobilised from various stakeholders across all sectors of our society,” he said.

The Presidency clarified on Sunday that funds were allocated from the existing budgets of Nedlac and the Presidency for secretariat support, communications and logistics. The provisions in the Appropriation Act and the Public Finance Management Act would be used to reimburse the Department of Employment and Labour and Nedlac in the Adjustments Budget later this year.

Ditlhake assured that “appropriate steps” had been taken to contain the costs associated with the Dialogue and to use available public facilities.

“It will be an example of public participation at scale. Every ward in South Africa becomes a space for democratic engagement. It is expected that each of the 4 300 wards will have at least three dialogues. These will be small, accessible dialogues in community halls, schools, churches and open spaces. There will also be thousands of sectoral- and theme-based dialogues. Millions of people will be engaged via community, radio, national broadcasters, print media and social media campaigns,” he said.

He assured that the outcomes from the dialogue would be used for real change.