Mbeki pens open letter to DA's Steenhuisen after party's decision to opt out of National Dialogue

JOHANNESBURG - Former President Thabo Mbeki has once again penned an open letter, this time to Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen, following his party’s decision to pull out of the National Dialogue.

In a blistering rebuke, Mbeki said it would have been more logical for the DA to walk away from the Government of National Unity (GNU) than withdraw from the dialogue.

He said it was obvious that the DA has serious problems with President Cyril Ramaphosa and the African National Congress (ANC) over the GNU.

Mbeki, who championed the National Dialogue, said opting out of it is misplaced and strange.

READ: ANC calls on DA to clarify if it wants stay in GNU or return to opposition party role

While some saw the DA’s big announcement following its failed ultimatum to the president as nothing more than a damp squib, Mbeki did not take well to these comments by Steenhuisen about the dialogue.

“In the absence of a president who is prepared to take action against VBS looters and state capture-accused sitting around the Cabinet table, it’s clear that the dialogue will be nothing more than a waste of time and money to distract from ANC failures.”

This has resulted in a scathing attack, with the former president suggesting the DA’s acts were against its very own direct interests.

In typical Mbeki fashion, he painstakingly set out how the idea of the dialogue was born, its purpose, and those involved in the project.

Mbeki said the dialogue would be the first time South Africans get an opportunity to engage one another in a detailed and comprehensive conversation about the country.

Despite Steenhuisen’s declaration to boycott the dialogue, his department is one of the interministerial committees tasked with overseeing the project.