South African president says national dialogue will continue without coalition partner

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday that a national dialogue aimed at uniting the country after last year's election would continue without his party's main coalition partner. The Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-biggest party in the coalition government after Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC), pulled out of the process last week after Ramaphosa fired a deputy minister from the party. The DA stopped short of leaving the governing coalition.

The parties have clashed repeatedly since the coalition was formed a year ago, with the DA accusing the ANC of acting without proper consultation. Financial markets have been on edge over signs of tension between the two partners in the broad multiparty government, though the consensus among political analysts is the fractious coalition will survive for now.

"We will probably have a very, very successful dialogue without diversionary inputs or interference from a party that does not have the interests of South Africans at heart," Ramaphosa told reporters when asked about the DA's decision to withdraw from the national dialogue. DA leader John Steenhuisen told reporters moments later that the dialogue would be a waste of time and state resources.

The national dialogue is an initiative by Ramaphosa to try to come up with solutions to some of the country's most pressing challenges, like high levels of poverty, unemployment and crime. Ramaphosa sacked deputy trade minister Andrew Whitfield last week over an unauthorised trip to the U.S. and said the DA should nominate a replacement.

A DA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about whether the party had yet proposed an alternative to Whitfield.

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