South Africa: ruling ANC warns opposition against seeking foreign help to overthrow govt

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has called on the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and all other political parties to respect the republic’s sovereignty and engage in the political arena in a constructive manner. The ANC made its call after claiming to have seen a letter from the DA sent to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of a number of European countries asking that they interfere in South Africa’s elections at the end of May.

According to the ruling party, the main opposition party was trying to introduce external players into an issue related to the sovereignty of the Republic of South Africa ahead of the elections.

“President Cyril Ramaphosa’s warning at our recent gathering has come to pass where he said: ‘We are conscious of the fact that there will be systematic fight-back campaign [post-ICJ genocide case against Israel]. There can be little doubt that these forces will do all in their power to prevent South Africa from concluding its case on the merits of the matter, in the ICJ. The fight-back may also focus on our own domestic politics and our electoral outcomes in order to pursue a regime-change agenda.’”

The ANC continued: “The claim that elections in the Republic of South Africa cannot be considered fair and credible without American and European supervision is a clear example of paternalistic imperialism, despite our impeccable record in administering free and fair elections.”

The party stressed that it welcomes constructive engagement and dialogue with all political parties, both domestically and internationally. “However, we will not tolerate any attempts to undermine our democratic processes or manipulate our elections. The ANC remains committed to upholding the values of democracy, equality, and justice that are enshrined in our Constitution.”

The DA letter pointed out that, for the first time in South Africa, the ruling ANC may receive less than 50 per cent of the votes and may lose its control over a number of provinces. If so, it will thus lose its majority in the upper chamber of parliament, the National Council of Provinces.

The alliance called on the US and Europe to acknowledge the significant risks facing South Africa in the period leading up to the elections, and asked them to contribute to dealing with the consequences in time leading up to the elections. The DA noted that it will request a formal meeting with the US Embassy in South Africa in the coming weeks, where more specific details regarding the request will be provided.

South Africa: Ramaphosa warns of ‘regime change’ ploys after ICJ ruling