Addis ababa: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday that his flagship national dialogue would proceed despite the withdrawal of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the African National Congress’s largest coalition partner.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, the DA quit the talks last week after Ramaphosa dismissed DA deputy trade minister Andrew Whitfield for taking an unauthorised trip to the United States. While the DA remains in the year-old governing coalition, it has repeatedly accused the ANC of sidelining it during key decisions, causing friction that has unsettled financial markets.
Ramaphosa told reporters, ‘We can hold a very successful dialogue without diversionary inputs from a party that lacks the broader interests of South Africans at heart.’ Shortly after, DA leader John Steenhuisen described the dialogue as ‘a waste of time and state resources.’
The initiative, launched by Ramaphosa to seek consensus on poverty, unemployment, and violent crime, now continues without the DA. The p
arty has not yet named a replacement for Whitfield, and a spokesperson declined to provide a timeline for doing so.
Analysts suggest that while the uneasy coalition is likely to persist for now, its internal disputes will continue to be a source of uncertainty.