By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider

On the second day of the first National Dialogue, the mood amongst various leaders of organizations that are representing their respective communities felt disgruntled. The reason for this is due to the skepticism of the overall dialogue.

The morning session began with the organizing committee of the event, presenting the findings of the discussions that were held in the break away groups yesterday.

 In the midst of the presentation, various leaders raised concerns that this dialogue may be falling into the same pattern of national conversations ending without any concrete implementation.

The Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who served as acting President in the absence of the President Cyril Ramaphosa, was in attendance today with his delegates.

However in the middle of the proceedings the Deputy President was seen walking out of the auditorium with his delegates alike, which reaffirmed the skepticism of the various community leaders.

 Although there is a consensus that a dialogue like this is necessary, there is still an air of distrust due to the fact that certain groups felt silenced or excluded from the 33 sectors that were outlined at the beginning of the convention.

 There is a cause for concern as the government has for many years actively ignored the cries of the people, and with the convention of this dialogue there is a sense that the convention may be seen as performative.

The morning session eventually broke away from its set format because of the disgruntled chaos of community leaders, which led to the organizing committee opening up the floor to various representatives of these communities to give them a voice and an opportunity to air out their grievances with the government present.

Sihle Ribisi, founder of the Kwanele foundation, has expressed her lack of trust for this dialogue citing it as a political agenda to further vote probability; “If you say it’s a national dialogue for us, you can’t shut us down. It’s sad that you’re here because the 2026 elections are coming and you’re trying to buy our silence,” said Sibisi

Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund CEO, Motlatsi Molefe said that the government has to fix their morality first before tackling any other steps; “Well, I don’t think it’s about the legal fraternity but the country as a whole. You have to address moral decay, because that’s where it starts”