South Africa’s official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has accused the ruling African National Congress (ANC) of violating the Electoral Code of Conduct after inviting Zimbabwe’s ZANU PF to help its campaign in the run-up to the 29 May elections.
The ANC has reportedly enlisted the help of Zimbabwe’s governing party in the final stretch of electioneering and also to participate as an observer mission during the elections.
In a statement, DA spokesperson, Solly Malatsi, said that the ANC’s move is a desperate attempt to hang on to power by any means necessary. Said Malatsi:
In its desperate attempt to hang on to power by any means necessary, the ANC is co-opting the SADC region’s electoral outcasts – ZANU-PF, to come and assist them contaminate South Africa’s electoral processes in the lead up to the general elections on 29 May.
The ANC’s invitation to ZANU-PF asking them to come and be part of their election campaign programme amounts to political interference with our elections. This compromises the Electoral Code of Conduct that all political parties swore to uphold.
ZANU-PF does not deserve to even act as an observer in the May elections because this is the same political party that has repeatedly violated Zimbabwe’s electoral laws to stay in power.
They have burnt Zimbabwe to ashes and should not be brought anywhere near what is the most consequential election in South Africa since the dawn of democracy.
Malatsi said the DA will lodge an official complaint with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) over what the party believes is a direct political interference in the election. He said:
The DA will be lodging an official complaint with the IEC over this direct political interference in the election and the potential harm that it could bring to the credibility of the outcome. We simply can’t allow a foreign political party to actively pursue a partisan political agenda on behalf of the ANC.
Malatsi further stated that the ANC’s invitation of ZANU PF to observe South African elections shows that the two parties are political bedfellows allergic to democratic values. He said:
Following Zimbabwe’s disputed elections in August 2023, which saw ZANU-PF’s Emmerson Mnangagwa controversially “re-elected” for a second term, the SADC Election Observer Mission (SADC-EOM) noted that the elections “fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act, and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021).”
Similarly, other observer missions – from the African Union, Commonwealth and the European Union, raised concern that the conduct of the election process impacted the credibility, transparency and inclusivity of the process.
The ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa ignored these scathing findings and endorsed the ‘re-election’ of Mnangagwa. It’s now clear why he rushed to endorse this sham election – the ANC had already made up its mind that they were going to coopt ZANU-PF in their nefarious plan to interfere in South Africa’s electoral process.
It explains why the ANC expresses righteous indignation at the DA’s appeal to the international community to send observers to come and observe our elections in May.
They knew that this would expose their plan to bring compromised actors like ZANU-PF to bolster their waning electoral fortunes through political interference.
Malatsi said the DA will do everything in its power to ensure that ZANU PF is barred from interfering in South Africa’s elections and is stopped from playing any role in observing the electoral process on 29 May.
He further asserted that ZANU PF rigged Zimbabwe’s elections many times over and will not be allowed to do the same in South Africa.
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