MEDIA RELEASE
2025-06-19
SUMMARY: The Labour Party of South Africa (Labour Party) has launched an urgent High Court application to interdict President Cyril Ramaphosa’s National Dialogue process, arguing that it is unconstitutional, irrational, fiscally irresponsible, and excludes the working class. The Party seeks to halt all further implementation and expenditure, citing the duplication of existing democratic structures and the estimated R700–R800 million cost as unjustifiable in the current crisis. The application was filed on 18 June 2025 and will be supported by a full Founding Affidavit and annexures filed and served today.
On 10 June 2025, the State President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr CyrilRamaphosa, issued an announcement for the calling of a National Convention on Friday, 15 August 2025 to ‘set the agenda for the National Dialogue’, working towards a second National Convention to be set down in 2026. The President appointed an Eminent Persons Group and an inter-ministerial committee, as well as a Steering Committee ‘to set strategic priorities and coordinate implementation of the National Dialogue process’.
The Labour Party leadership deliberated on the issue, and felt it necessary to stop this process in light of the current economic realities in our country, the fact that this process will be a duplication and repetition of current structures and processes available to the President through Parliament, as well as the exorbitant cost of this process, estimated at between R700 million and R800 million.
The Party subsequently instructed attorneys and senior counsel to launch an urgent application to interdict the President from implementing the National Dialogue process, and consultations took place over the past long weekend.
The Notice of Motion was subsequently filed electronically yesterday afternoon, 18 June 2025, under case number 2025-092790. The application names the President and Deputy President of the Republic, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Minister of Finance, the National Treasury, and NEDLAC as respondents. The Founding Affidavit and full set of annexures are being filed and served this morning.
In its papers, the Labour Party contends that the so-called “National Dialogue” is not only unlawful and irrational, but also fundamentally undermines the democratic process by replicating existing institutions and excluding the broader working class from any meaningful participation. Furthermore, it lacks the executive powers of the existing institutions like Parliament and the legislatures.
“South Africa doesn’t need another elite summit behind closed doors,” said acting Secretary-General Lindi Mkhumbane. “We already have Parliament, we already have NEDLAC, and we already have civil society platforms. What we don’t have is political will from the ruling elite to act on the people’s demands”, she said.
According to the court papers, the Labour Party seeks, among others, the following relief:
- A declaratory order that the National Dialogue process and the Presidential announcement of 10 June 2025 are unconstitutional, irrational, and inconsistent with the principle of participatory democracy.
- An interdict preventing the use of public funds for any phase of the Dialogue, including payments to the so-called Eminent Persons Group, until Parliament has authorised such expenditure.
- A review and setting aside of all executive decisions taken to initiate the Dialogue process, including the appointment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee and the Steering Committee.
The application is supported by various annexures, including the President’s official statement of 10 June 2025 and the Government Gazette recording the appointments.
“This is not a true dialogue. It is a PR stunt designed to absolve the State President from the failures of his administration through the language of consultation”, Mkhumbane pointed out. “We are dealing with a regime that stages participation while silencing real voices. The people weren’t consulted about this process, and now their money is being spent on it”, she added.
The Labour Party is further arguing that no legal basis exists for this process to be convened in the absence of enabling legislation or parliamentary scrutiny. It cites sections 213 and 215 of the Constitution, as well as the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), to show that executive discretion is not a blank cheque.
“Essentially, this court case is about constitutional accountability”, said Mkhumbane. “The President cannot just wake up and decide to appoint committees, allocate funds, and dictate national agendas from the Union Buildings. That’s not democracy – that is executive overreach”, she explained.
The matter has been brought on an urgent basis. The Labour Party has indicated its intention to seek a preferential court date for the hearing of the application before any further phases of the National Dialogue are implemented or public funds are disbursed.
“This government has perfected the art of wasting public money on parallel processes like summits, commissions and talk shops that produce no results”, said Mkhumbane. “We are saying enough is enough. Rather focus your energy – and our money – on rescuing Eskom, fixing our roads and infrastructure, as well as mending our broken institutions and schools. We have gender-based violence, rape, high murder rates and other imminent problems facing our country. The President already has all the necessary institutions and legislation at his disposal to adequately address these challenges, if he was really concerned about South Africa”, she added. “Stop funding more feel-good and fuzzy talk shops while the country burns”, she said. “We hope that justice will be served and that our case will succeed in stopping this madness”, Mkhumbane concluded.
The Labour Party will make all court papers available on its official website and invites all progressive organisations, trade unions, and concerned South Africans to support the case.
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