PRETORIA, Monday 18 May 2026 — South Africa’s National Dialogue Steering Committee approved an implementation framework for 195 pilot dialogues across the country, with the programme scheduled to run from June to August before pausing during the local election period.
The committee said 39 sectors would coordinate ward-based, digital, media and sectoral engagements across all nine provinces. Around 60% of the programme was intended to involve direct community and ward-level participation.
The pilot programme was designed to test engagement methods and participation systems before a broader rollout of the National Dialogue.
The steering committee said the process would pause between September and December because of the 4 November local government elections, saying this was intended to preserve the initiative’s non-partisan character.
