The National Treasury has put the brakes on planned spending on the national dialogue by banning air travel for delegates in three provinces neighbouring Gauteng, capping costs for hotel stays and halting the purchase of smartphones for facilitators.
These are among the measures to ensure a major cost reduction ahead of the first national convention to be held from Friday until Sunday. The national convention is a preparatory platform that will kick-start the national dialogue and its agenda.
At least 800 delegates are expected to form part of the dialogue scheduled for August 15 at Unisas main campus in Pretoria, with eminent people from different groups expected to lead discussions.
Delegates from Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo have been prohibited from using air travel, according to one insider. In addition, spending on the hosting of the secretariat of the dialogue within the National Economic and Labour Council Nedlac has been cut after a plan to buy cellphones for facilitators was shelved by the Treasury.
Nedlac will now provide a monthly user allowance of R300 per facilitator for airtime and data, said another insider.