Despite disagreements displayed publicly at the start of the National Dialogue’s first national convention, President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared hopeful that the gathering would achieve its objectives.

Ramaphosa officially opened the convention at the University of South Africa’s (Unisa’s) main campus in Pretoria on Friday.

At the start of proceedings, organisers, some of whom are members of the preparatory committee, remonstrated on the main stage shortly after Unisa vice-chancellor Professor Puleng LenkaBula delivered her welcoming address.

Instead of Ramaphosa delivering the keynote speech, a panel discussion on challenges facing South Africans, such as joblessness and the importance of solid leadership, among others, was held.

When he finally spoke, Ramaphosa said he undertook to lower the costs of the National Dialogue from R740 million.

“We can have this dialogue much cheaper; much lower costs must be the order of the day,” he said.

Ramaphosa said as part of his intervention, South Africans would meet in homes, schools, lecture and community halls, churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, as well as boardrooms and on the shop-floor in villages, townships and cities, as well as under trees.

He also thanked Unisa for hosting the national convention and providing its facilities and services free of charge.

“We will be going around the country, we will desist from hiring halls, expensive halls in hotels. That is how we are going to bring the costs down,” Ramaphosa promised.

He said South Africans did not want too much money for the conversations of the National Dialogue.

According to Ramaphosa, in previous similar events, there have been moments where others have chosen not to participate.

Several legacy foundations representing former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe pulled out of the two-day gathering, along with political parties in the Government of National Unity, such as the DA and the Freedom Front Plus, also snubbed the event over fears that it would be a government-led process.

ActionSA and the SA Federation of Trade Unions also announced they would not be part of the national convention.

Ramaphosa said those standing outside would one day have no choice but to join the National Dialogue.

“Let us be reminded that our disagreements are small compared to the magnitude of what we can achieve together,” he said.

The president added that nations are not solely defined by their difficulties but by how they respond to them.

His assessment was that South Africans all agree that the country is not where it ought to be and that it is broken.

Ramaphosa said when prominent figures and organisations were pulling out of the national convention and calls were growing for it to be postponed, he sought the Eminent Persons Group’s (EPG’s) counsel.

The EPG, which is co-chaired by Tshwane University of Technology vice-chancellor Professor Tinyiko Maluleke and former Cabinet minister Roelf Meyer, told him to press ahead and get as much work that needs to be done as possible.

According to Ramaphosa, the EPG warned him that postponing the national convention would dampen the occasion, create doubt, and that hope would be lost.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za

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