Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has slammed the Democratic Alliance (DA) for what he called “hypocrisy” after the party withdrew from South Africa’s national dialogue.
The move followed Ramaphosa’s dismissal of DA member Andrew Whitfield as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition.
Despite remaining in the Government of National Unity (GNU), the DA criticised Ramaphosa and threatened a motion of no confidence.
Speaking alongside Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen on Friday at a press conference held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Ramaphosa said the DA’s withdrawal was “unfortunate” and “a real shock”, especially since all GNU parties had initially agreed to the dialogue.
“Every party signed to that, and it is rather surprising to hear a leader of the Democratic Alliance saying they never agreed to that in the first place.”
“The National Dialogue is a platform for all South Africans to craft a shared vision of the kind of a society we seek to build and agree on the actions we need to take to realise that vision. The dialogue will proceed as planned.”
~President @CyrilRamaphosa #AustriaInSA pic.twitter.com/hcB5O9fFBR
— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) July 4, 2025
“That is the worst form of hypocrisy that I’ve ever heard,” the president said, in the presence of DA leader John Steenhuisen.
“You sign onto a document and thereafter, for completely different reasons that have to do with governance in the government of national unity, you then lash out against precisely the same issue that you signed on for and agreed to.
“But it also really represents the poverty of good principles where a party that stands for inclusivity and democracy in South Africa said they wanted a national dialogue and that is what we responding to. It’s not only the foundations, it’s also the churches, it’s also the ordinary people in our country who said 30 years down the line, we would like to see where South Africa is headed to.”
He insisted the dialogue was not a partisan platform but a collective national initiative, and confirmed it would continue without the DA.
Ramaphosa accused the DA of not having South Africans’ best interests at heart and said their absence was a “great pity.”
“What is wrong with the dialogue? Nothing is wrong with the dialogue. It’s about people getting together.
“”I’m not surprised to see former President Thabo Mbeki having written a 10-page letter or so about precisely this, because he’s also appalled, as many South Africans are appalled, at the behavior of the Democratic Alliance.” – President Cyril Ramaphosa
“I don’t think… pic.twitter.com/8yvR1SyykF
— News Live SA (@newslivesa) July 4, 2025
“So what I can say is that the national dialogue will continue without the participation of the Democratic Alliance, and we will probably have a very, very successful dialogue without diversionary inputs or interference from a party that does not have the interests of South Africans at heart,” the president said.
He also challenged the rationale of the DA remaining in the GNU while simultaneously rejecting participation in the national dialogue.
“I’m not surprised to see former president Thabo Mbeki having written a 10-page letter or so about precisely this, because he’s also appalled, as many South Africans are appalled, at the behavior of the Democratic Alliance,” Ramaphosa said.
“It’s the strangest behaviour I’ve ever seen. And when they met, we thought that they were going to withdraw from the government of national unity. What did they come with?
“They come with saying no, no, no, no; we want to stay in the government of national unity, but we’re boycotting the people of South Africa.
“What a contradiction. It makes no sense. So national dialogue will go on.”
In a strongly worded open letter to Steenhuisen, he called Steenhuisen and DA federal chair Helen Zille “arrogant” and accused them of showing contempt for the South African public.
An Open Letter from President Thabo Mbeki, the Patron of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, addressed to DA leader John Steenhuisen—dated 3 July 2025—in which he responds to the DA’s withdrawal from the National Dialogue pic.twitter.com/LCyrn0fEvp
— Thabo Mbeki Foundation (@TMFoundation_) July 3, 2025
Mbeki argued that the DA’s rejection of the dialogue, which they claim is an ANC election strategy, contradicts their earlier commitment to an inclusive process outlined in the GNU agreement.
“And as you know, Zille, and therefore presumably the DA’s view, is that the absence of the latter from the ‘Parliament of the People’ will make the Parliament ‘a sham’ and ‘a hollow exercise’. It is very good that, at last, Zille has openly expressed her eminently arrogant and contemptuous view of the masses of the people, that these cannot think and plan their future correctly, without the DA.
“That, presumably, is also the view of the federal leader of the DA who must have felt very proud when he announced that effective immediately, the DA will therefore ‘have no further part in this process. We will also actively mobilise against it.’ I hope that in time the DA will explain to the people why it signed up to the commitment in the statement of intent of the parties in the GNU that parties commit to an all-inclusive national dialogue process, whereas, as Zille said, she had been very opposed to it from the start.”
