PRETORIA - President Cyril Ramaphosa opened the National Convention with grand words about the weight of the two-day gathering.
Speaking to more than 100 delegates at Unisa’s Muckleneuk Campus in Pretoria on Friday, he stressed that the convention was meant to lay the groundwork for public dialogues across South Africa over the next six to eight months.
But the president also use the opportunity to take direct aim at those who chose to sit this one out.
He said the political parties and legacy foundations which chose to withdraw from the event would “one day wish they were here".
The DA, ActionSA and Freedom Front Plus snubbed the convention. As did the Steve Biko Foundation, Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Chief Albert Luthuli Foundation, and four others.
They declined to participate, citing concerns over the greater National Dialogue’s credibility.
Ramaphosa recalled the example of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), which refused to participate in various nation-building dialogues and constitutional negotiations – and lived to count the cost.
Of the legacy foundations, Ramaphosa said: “We grant them the freedom to stay away, but one day they will realise they should have been here because it is about bringing people together and for all of us to speak together, not to speak at each other."