By Jason Felix.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is hauling President Cyril Ramaphosa before the Electoral Court, accusing him of abusing his office for political gain using a “national address” to the nation via the SABC.
Opposition parties have lashed out at Ramaphosa over his address to the nation on Sunday night. According to the DA, Ramaphosa violated the Electoral Code of Conduct when he “abused the highest office in the land for flagrant electioneering”.
In his address, Ramaphosa detailed the progress made during the sixth administration. The EFF wants an investigation into the “misuse” of the SABC by Ramaphosa’s office to avoid a repeat in the future.
Ramaphosa also spoke on the significance of Wednesday’s election and other security matters, but a large part of his speech was about his government’s successes.
These included the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, tackling corruption and gender-based violence.
The signing into law of the National Health Insurance Bill was also one of Ramaphosa’s major talking points.
But DA leader John Steenhuisen is taking Ramaphosa to task on this issue by filing an application in the Electoral Court for violating the Electoral Code.
In a statement, he said the Electoral Code of Conduct, as contained in the Electoral Act, states expressly that no person may abuse a position of power, privilege or influence, including parental, patriarchal, traditional or employment authority, to influence the conduct or outcome of an election.
“Ramaphosa’s manipulation was cynical, calculated and designed to influence the outcome of the election by providing the ANC with unearned airtime [that was] not made available to any other party contesting the election.
“Not for the first time, Ramaphosa has chosen his corrupt political party over South Africa. As the president, he should have known better and must be held to account. This type of abuse cannot be allowed by anyone,” Steenhuisen said.
According to Steenhuisen, the “desecration” of the office Ramaphosa holds confirms that he is panicked.
“Because he has finally realised that the people are about to hold the ANC to account for the corruption, misrule and hardship they have inflicted upon the people of South Africa. The DA, therefore, calls on voters to turn out to the polling booths in their millions to help us bring an end to the ANC’s impunity and abuse of our democracy for narrow personal and political gain,” he said.
Furthermore, Steenhuisen said Ramaphosa “has clearly signaled that the ANC is prepared to undermine our constitutional democracy to try to cling to power”.
“This should serve as an urgent warning to all of our democratic institutions, including the IEC. If Ramaphosa is willing to abuse his office for narrow political gain even before the ANC has lost its majority, what else will he be willing to do to subvert the will of the people and cling to power after voters take away the ANC’s majority on Wednesday?
“If voters needed any further confirmation that the hunger for power and the corruption of the ANC constitutes an urgent threat to the values upon which our constitutional democracy is based, Ramaphosa provided it last night,” he said.
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told News24 the criticism is unfounded because Ramaphosa’s address was a stately account of the work done during the course of the sixth administration.
“The president was, therefore, being accountable to the nation as we end the term of the 6th administration. Secondly, he was taking the responsibility of assuring South Africans that these elections are going to be free and fair and, more importantly, safe. That responsibility can only be discharged by a sitting head of state,” Magwenya said.
He also argued that in his address, Ramaphosa, did not mention the governing party, nor did he criticise other political parties.
“In fact, he commended all parties for the peaceful manner in which they have campaigned and thanked all parliamentarians for the work they’ve done over the concluding term. Lastly, the president paid tribute to all South Africans who worked together with government when the country was going through challenging times, like the Covid-19 pandemic, the floods in KZN and other parts of the country and during the 2021 riots,” he said.
According to Magwenya, the address was not about campaigning.
“The president, as he must, was being the president of all South Africans with the address,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EFF has also expressed its concern and condemned Ramaphosa for using the SABC for political gain. The party condemned the “hijacking of the state broadcaster for partisan purposes”.
“It is clear that there is fear within the ANC ranks of an imminent loss and they are resorting to desperate measures to stay in power,” the EFF said in a statement.