DA calls on President Motlanthe to act against political violence

The violent attack yesterday on two Democratic Alliance (DA) activists by a gang of men known to be ANC members and supporters is a brutal reminder of the ruling party's intolerance of opposition.

Yesterday's attack (see here) is one of many acts of intimidation recently perpetrated against DA activists working in ANC strongholds around the country. These attacks indicate that the ANC feels threatened by the DA's growing presence in areas traditionally supportive of the ruling party.

As the ANC comes under increasing electoral pressure, such violent intimidation - if left unchecked - could escalate. We need to take urgent steps now before next year's election when political competition will intensify.

I today called President Kgalema Motlanthe to request an urgent meeting with him and Safety and Security Minister Nathi Mthethwa to discuss the recent increase in political violence and intimidation. The DA will propose that a multi-party task team be established to make recommendations - with input from the South African Police Services (SAPS) and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) - to prevent political violence and intimidation inside and outside of election periods.

On Sunday, DA Etwatwa branch chairperson Collen Mdluli and branch secretary Thokazani Nhleko were accosted outside Mdluli's shack in the Mogoba informal settlement near Daveyton in Ekurhuleni. The group of men threatened to kill them. The incident was reported to the local SAPS, but they did not act.

Yesterday, Mdluli and Nhleko were hacked with axes and hit with shovels outside Mdluli's home. Their attackers burned the shack to the ground, leaving Mdluli and his wife and children homeless.

Mdluli was discharged from hospital yesterday with head injuries. Nhleko was in a critical condition last night after sustaining wounds to his head and limbs, but has now stabilised.

The trouble began in July this year after Mdluli opened a DA branch in Etwatwa. Three ANC branch executive members accompanied by around 100 activists confronted Mdluli at his home. They told him that if he did not come out of his shack, they would break it down. When he stepped outside, they beat him and kicked him until the police arrived at the scene and pulled them away. Charges were laid, but no arrests have been made.

DA activists, particularly those working in ANC strongholds, are increasingly targets of violence and intimidation. Besides yesterday's attack, the following incidents have been reported in the last three months:

• On Sunday 19 October, 30 ANC members disrupted a DA meeting in Kya Sands, Gauteng .
• On 14 October, DA Mpumalanga provincial youth leader, Stanley Zondi, received anonymous death threats after he exposed the corrupt activities of ANC councillors in the Thembisile Municipality to the media.
• In September, in Ermelo , Mpumalanga a DA candidate for the upcoming by-election in Ward 4, was told by ANC activists that her house would be burned down if she stood for election. Local ANC leaders and supporters told her children that their mother would be hurt if she contested the election.
• On 1 September, employees of a company hired by the DA to distribute pamphlets in the Mphopheni and Escort Townships in KwaZulu-Natal were assaulted by local residents and ANC supporters.
• On 19 August, DA activists, Jerry Rampai and Martha Ngati, were pelted with stones by ANC supporters at a public meeting in Tlokwe , North West province.

These incidents indicate the ANC's increasing intolerance of opposition and reflect the militarisation of its discourse. The violence and intimidation is fuelled, no doubt, by Jacob Zuma's war songs and the ‘shoot to kill' rhetoric which the ANC leadership has failed to condemn.

The DA will not stand by while our activists are threatened and attacked. If the government and the ANC believe in democracy and the principle of freedom of association, they won't either. It is time for the few voices of conscience that remain in the ANC to speak out against the culture of violence that now permeates the ruling party from top to bottom.

Statement issued by Democratic Alliance leader, Helen Zille, October 21 2008