Maimane seeks urgent meeting with National Police Commissioner over ANC-orchestrated violent protests
11 April 2019
With the very real possibility of electoral defeat in key parts of the country on 8 May, the ANC has now resorted to desperate, violent, and destructive tactics that threaten to burn South Africa to the ground. From Alexandra in Johannesburg, to Tshwane, to now parts of Cape Town, the ANC is orchestrating violent protests in a desperate attempt to render DA-run cities ungovernable, and to shift attention away from its failure in government over the past 25 years.
The ANC does not care about the plight of poor South Africans. It only cares about ensuring it stays in power to steal more money that ought to be spent on bettering the lives of South Africans. Nearly 10 million people are unemployed and this number grows every day the ANC remains in government. It has become a movement that embodies undemocratic behaviour - from burning books to burning our communities. They have run out of ideas and these violent protests are proof of this.
At a time when leadership is desperately required, the lack of action by President Cyril Ramaphosa illustrates a complete inability to lead the country. The failure by the President to call his own party to order shows that he is not in control of the ANC, but the ANC controls him. The President continues to operate in a bubble, while the likes of Mabuza, Mbabula and Magashule run the show.
Unlike the President, we will not stand by and watch while the ANC burns the country to the ground. I have therefore today written to the National Police Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole, requesting an urgent meeting to establish what plans are in place to put an end to this violence and to restore law and order in our communities. The SAPS must immediately institute a plan to halt the ANCs objective of inciting violence and turning our communities into warzones.