By: Natasha Archary
President Cyril Ramaphosa has slammed the Democratic Alliance (DA) for the letter to the US calling for help in South Africa’s elections in May.
Both Ramaphosa and the African National Congress (ANC) have hit back at the DA for undermining the country’s sovereignty in a move that has been called a cheap tactic.
The DA called on the US to deploy resources that will ensure the upcoming South African elections will not be rigged, in a bid to keep the ANC in power.
Writing to the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, the DA’s Emma Powell said the party is concerned that the ANC will do everything in its power to sway the votes in it’s favour.
“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 called on Western governments to intervene in the upcoming South African elections in May
President Ramaphosa said the move was a cheap tactic by the opposition to interfere in South Africa’s sovereignty and called the DA’s actions disingenuous.
Meanwhile, the ANC’s national spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the party did not understand the reason the DA chooses “such tantrums.”
“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?”
There are calls for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to intervene and take action over the DA for writing a letter to the US.
Also read: “The disclosure unauthorised was done by one of our staff” – IEC on ANC and MK candidate list leak
