Pretoria: The induction of the National Dialogue's newly appointed steering committee will take place this weekend at the University of South Africa's (Unisa) Muckleneuk main campus in Pretoria. The National Dialogue, an initiative announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year, aims to address the challenges facing South Africa.

According to South African Government News Agency, President Ramaphosa confirmed the 99 nominees to the steering committee in December. These nominees were carefully selected from various sectors of society. The steering committee's role is to uphold the process's integrity, ensure meaningful and accessible participation, and oversee the phased roll-out of dialogues across communities, sectors, and provinces. It is important to note that the committee is not a substitute for elected government and does not serve as a platform for party-political campaigning.

During the induction, the focus will be on governance, ethics, decision-making protocols, public accountability, and the realities of rebuilding trust. This comes in a context where many South Africans are sceptical of consultative processes that do not lead to tangible change, as highlighted in a statement from the National Dialogue.

The induction process aims to outline the practical roadmap for implementing the dialogues, which includes a public participation guide with offline options for communities with limited connectivity, an accessibility and translation pathway to ensure participation across different languages and disability contexts, and a clear reporting and feedback approach. Additionally, there will be a weekly process update and a public log of priority issues raised and their status.

The National Dialogue Steering Committee has emphasized its commitment to maintaining a transparent, inclusive, and non-partisan process that is citizen-led, as reiterated in their statement.