Pull the plug and start dialogue over

While the National Dialogue saga seems destined to generate little more than more hot air—as if we don't have enough already from our verbose politicians—it does provide some fascinating material for pondering our parlous political situation.

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First, the foundations associated with the elders of recent South Africa history—those who negotiated the way towards ending apartheid—have pulled out of the process.

One of the prominent critics of the dialogue process is former president Thabo Mbeki. He was the man who set in motion this idea of a national dialogue and, in his own words, it should have been civil society in the driving seat, not President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC.