In the wake of the withdrawal of legacy foundations from the national dialogue preparatory task team, a convention organising committee has been established to proceed with the first instalment of the countrywide talks.
The new cohort is made up of representatives from civil society, Nedlac, Unisa and the Presidency, with the immediate task being to organise and run a convention scheduled for Friday.
Briefing the media at Unisa, the chairperson of the convention organising committee Boichoko Ditlhake, from the Kagiso Trust, said the collective must not allow any grouping to control a process that should belong to citizens and society.
This follows tensions between the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and others who are believed to have locked horns with President Cyril Ramaphosa over a range of issues, including who controls the dialogue process, its budget and the timing of the first convention.
Despite the row, the dialogue's organisers have expressed their intention to go ahead with their initial plans.