We will clean up our streets, Mr. President, but you must clean up your cabinet

16 July 2021

President Ramaphosa has acknowledged that his government failed to foresee and prepare for a possible attack on our democracy.

He should have gone further and announced his decision to immediately fire Police Minister Bheki Cele and Intelligence Chief Ayanda Dlodlo.

In any other democracy, there would be no question that their heads would roll for this utter failure of intelligence and preparedness.

If the safety of South Africans comes before the unity of the ANC, then Cele and Dlodlo must go.

President Ramaphosa furthermore acknowledged that the violence and looting over the past week is a deliberate, coordinated attack on our democracy. He failed to acknowledge that the people who coordinated this attack are in his own party and that it is ANC factional fighting that has spilled onto the streets of KZN and Gauteng.

The president called for the country to unite to clean up the mess. The first step to cleaning up the mess must surely be to fire these two cabinet ministers who have so utterly failed in their duty to protect South African lives, property and livelihoods.

It is way past the time, Mr. President, to put South Africa first.

South Africa cannot afford to have our national security undermined by Ministers who have failed dismally in their roles to preempt this sort of attack and defend our people.

This Mandela Day we will clean our streets, but we want the President to clean up his cabinet of those who have failed our nation.

Issued by John Steenhuisen, Leader of the Democratic Alliance, 16 July 2021