The ANC has slammed the DA for its letter to the US secretary of state and other foreign affairs ministers in Europe to ask for help in ensuring no foreign interference in South Africa’s upcoming election.
In their letter to Antony Blinken through US Ambassador to SA, Reuben Brigerty, dated March 7 2024, DA MP Emma Powell indicates that the DA is uncomfortable with the ANC elite as it is likely to grow more desperate and attempt to rig elections in the upcoming May 29 polls.
Last year, Brigerty came under fire in South Africa when he claimed that the country had supplied weapons to Russia despite its professed neutrality in the war in Ukraine.
The DA indicated that it wanted the US to help monitor the country’s upcoming elections to prevent the ANC and other external forces from having their way with the much-anticipated elections.
“It is our contention that as the ruling elite grow desperate to retain electoral support ahead of the upcoming elections, they my be willing to put their narrow political interests ahead of our country’s broader interests and sacred constitutional values. Here, we are witnessing an increasing willingness by the ANC to forge alliances with malign international actors whose regimes are characterised by tyranny, terror and oppression,” Powell writes.
The DA said it wanted the US to provide additional observers in a bid to safeguard the integrity of the elections.
“In the absence of permissions being granted by our government for increased contingents of international observers to monitor NPE2024, resources could be made available to bolster the deployment of additional, independent, domestic observers.
“Lastly, we note with increasing alarm the potential for foreign interference in our elections by malign actors. Your country can help to safeguard against any attempts to disrupt the democratic process or negatively influence the South African electorate through misinformation and disinformation campaigns. We therefore expect that any available technological resources designed to mitigate against sinister attempts to manipulate election outcomes, particularly within vulnerable communities,” the DA says.
However, the ANC through its national spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri has reacted angrily to the DA’s letter, saying the ANC does not know the reason for such tantrums by the DA.
Bhengu-Motsiri lambasted the DA, saying nothing can be expected from a party that advocates for the slaughter of innocent children and women in Gaza.
“We don’t even know what is the basis for these tantrums by the DA. Firstly, it’s not surprising for us as the ANC. What do you expect from a party that wants to have international relations powers? What do you expect from a party whose leader talks about the war in Gaza, saying that one man’s genocide is another man’s freedom. What do you expect about protecting the sovereignty of SA to be able to run free and fair elections without the interference of any powers in the West and the global North?”
The Star