File: The South African flag waving in the wind.
JOHANNESBURG - The Steve Biko, Thabo Mbeki, Albert Luthuli, Desmond and Leah Tutu, FW de Klerk, and Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundations have withdrawn from the National Dialogue Preparatory Task team.
The foundations say the 15th August convention has strayed from being citizen-led and risks becoming a rushed, government-controlled event.
READ: National Dialogue | NPC warns against becoming a "talk shop"
They cite among others the erosion of citizen leadership, loss of meaningful platform for dialogue, and a lack of operational infrastructure.
Despite this, they remain committed to the broader dialogue but are calling for next week's national convention to be postponed so it can be properly structured.