Steenhuisen fires back at Ramaphosa over national dialogue boycott

DA leader and Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen has criticised the government’s reliance on what he calls “corrupt and incompetent individuals” to implement South Africa’s development plans, warning that ongoing dialogue without action will not solve the country’s deepening crises.

This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa took aim at the DA for withdrawing from the National Dialogue, accusing the party of turning its back on South Africans and lacking commitment to core democratic values. Ramaphosa called it a “great form of hypocrisy.”

Ramaphosa was hosting the president of Austria, Alexander van der Bellen, to deepen economic and trade relations between the two parties at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. 

“It’s the poverty of adherence to good principles for a party to walk away from the people of South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.

“Nothing is wrong with the dialogue. It will continue without the participation of the Democratic Alliance.”

He stressed that the dialogue was not a party-political event but a national platform for all South Africans—churches, foundations, communities—to reflect on the country’s progress 30 years into democracy.

“This is not a party political platform. It’s a platform that will see the participation of the people of South Africa as a whole.  Political parties will play a very minimal role,” Ramaphosa said.

He warned that by boycotting the initiative, the DA was depriving its own supporters of the opportunity to help shape South Africa’s future.

“What a pity for a party that says it represents 20 or so percent of the people of South Africa. They are depriving those that they seek to represent an opportunity to make an input into the future of the country.”

Steenhuisen, speaking on the sidelines at the Union Buildings, said: “If you’re going to rely on those people to be the ones implementing your plans and your decisions, it’s going to end up just like every other issue, every other talk-shop that’s happened for the last 20 years. People will still be living in abject poverty. Unemployment will still be unacceptably high.”

He insisted that South Africans have had “30 years of talking” and what is needed now is action—specifically, the immediate and vigorous implementation of the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP), which the government has adopted as its roadmap to achieving 3% economic growth.

“A dialogue isn’t going to feed anybody. It’s not going to build a single house or create a single job. We must burn off the oxygen implementing the plan,” Steenhuisen said.

Referencing former President Thabo Mbeki’s controversial Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy in the 1990s, Steenhuisen noted how Mbeki stood firm in the face of opposition, insisting the government had a mandate to deliver.

“We have a medium-term development plan. The President has said this is the pathway. Ministers have been tasked to internalise it. Now we need delivery, not more roundtable discussions,” he said.

Ramaphosa, in contrast, said the National Dialogue echoes historical milestones like the Freedom Charter and the post-apartheid constitutional negotiations—broad-based, people-led processes that helped shape democratic South Africa.

“To have those who want to boycott an overarching national manifestation like what we had when we drafted our constitution comes as a real shock to me,” Ramaphosa said.

He added that former President Mbeki, too, had expressed his disappointment with the DA’s decision to boycott the dialogue.

''I'm not surprised to see former President Thabo Mbeki having written a 10-page letter or so about precisely this, because he's also appalled, as many South Africans are appalled, at the behavior of the Democratic Alliance,'' said Ramaphosa.

Steenhuisen said that the DA would respond soon to Mbeki’s recently released 11-page open letter.

“I don't think intemperate attacks on a public platform, when you have a visiting head of state next to you, is the appropriate forum to do that. We will also provide Thabo Mbeki with a full report.

[email protected]

Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel

IOL Politics