By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Presidency labelled the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) request to the US, Canada, and several European nations to increase their monitoring on the upcoming elections a clumsy PR stunt.
The official opposition party has received widespread criticism over the letter. The US has since expressed confidence in the IEC’s ability to conduct free and fair elections.
The DA wrote to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, asking for international help “to ensure the integrity” of the vote and “safeguard against any attempts to disrupt the democratic process.”
The message didn’t go down well with the government, which has had an at times rocky relationship with Washington amid accusations it sided with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Presidency Spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya addressed the media at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
“US judging by the statement that was released last week, if I’m not mistaken, the US embassy has already rejected this very clumsy PR stunt by the DA, which has sought to undermine the integrity of our elections. As a young democracy, we have a wonderful history of holding free and fair elections and in some cases better than some of the countries that the DA has approached,” says Mangwenya.
“It is important that we say, in the absence of presenting any new, tangible ideas to the electorate, please do not cast doubt on the integrity of our electoral system,” he adds.
President Cyril Ramaphosa viewed last week’s leak of African National Congress (ANC) candidate lists from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) as an isolated incident, with no bearing on the overall integrity of the electoral system.
A survey of over 1,500 registered voters by the Brenthurst Foundation and the SABI Strategy Group put the ruling party at 39 percent with the DA trailing on 27 percent.
The DA, which has struggled to escape a white, middle-class image and win over black voters, has struck a coalition agreement with almost a dozen smaller parties. Together they are polling at 33 percent, according to the survey conducted in February.
Magwenya also called on communities to reject individuals and political parties who threaten election violence, saying they are demonstrating a bankruptcy of ideas.
It follows a series of threats made by members of Jacob Zuma’s Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party if it did not get its way at the ballot box.
Magwenya said law enforcement agencies were hard at work to secure the May polls, with the state’s security cluster seized with preparations for the country’s seventh election, and to ensure there is no violence.