Deputy President Paul Mashatile says that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will have the final say on the budget for the upcoming National Dialogue.

Mashatile was speaking to the media at North West University’s Rag Farm stadium shortly after delivering the keynote address at the national Youth Day commemoration in Potchefstroom in the North West province. His comments come as the national dialogue preparatory committee has come under fire for the projected R770 million estimated cost.

“The issue of the costs obviously will be looked up by the Minister of Finance. Normally, when there are activities like this, officials will start planning and projecting the costs of accommodation, this and this. The Minister of Finance will finally decide whether funds are available in that regard or we need to cut down. He will deal with that.”

The much-anticipated National Dialogue will first kick off with a National Convention in August.

The phased process will begin with sectoral engagements then proceed with Provincial and National Dialogues.

WATCH: Youth Day | Mashatile urges youth to be part of national dialogue

At the national Youth Day commemoration, the Deputy President said that entrepreneurship is the key to a better future, on the back of high unemployment numbers.

The Deputy President added that equipping young people with the skills necessary to become entrepreneurs is essential for the success of society.

“Today, we honour and pay tribute to the valiant and fearless young people who stood at the forefront of the liberation struggle on June 16, 1976. Regardless of their youthful stature, the youth of 1976 stood strong in the face of an oppressive system of the Apartheid regime. They faced death with unwavering determination fueled by a vision of equal rights and a more just society. As President Nelson Mandela recounted in his address on Youth Day on June 16, 1996, “When freedom beckoned, you faced death and bullets and did not flinch; you responded to the call to build the underground and the mass democratic movement; you swelled the ranks of the people’s army and acquitted yourselves with distinction on the battlefield.”