Steenhuisen rejects Mbeki's call for DA to attend National Dialogue

A WAR of words has ensued between former president Thabo Mbeki and DA leader John Steenhuisen over the withdrawal of the DA from the National Dialogue.

- MASHUDU SADIKE

The DA last weekend announced its withdrawal from the National Dialogue, just days after President Cyril Ramaphosa fired former Trade and Industry deputy minister Andrew Whitfield for travelling to the US without presidential permission.

Whitfield's departure has rocked the Government of National Unity (GNU) with the DA threatening to leave the arrangement but later backtracking.

Ramaphosa accused the DA of turning its back on South Africans and lacking commitment to core democratic values.

Ramaphosa said the National Dialogue would continue without the DA's participation, emphasising that the dialogue is not a party-political event but a national platform for all South Africans.

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