DA leader John Steenhuisen is no stranger to controversy and his latest remarks have riled Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi, who accused him of using “swart gevaar” tactics in the DA's campaign against new political parties that are not part of the Multiparty Charter.
Zibi lashed out at the Western Cape governing party, saying it was “arrogant” and its attitude was off-putting for most South Africans.
Zibi made these remarks during an address at the Cape Town Press Club on Wednesday just days after Steenhuisen referred to “political mercenaries” in small parties like Rise Mzansi, Patriotic Alliance, Good and the National Coloured Congress, whom he said were trying to break the DA-led province despite its good governance record.
Addressing the DA’s launch of the provincial manifesto in Paarl at the weekend, Steenhuisen asked: “Why are these parties obsessed with targeting this province — the only province that works, where the 1,200 law enforcement officers deployed under the ground-breaking LEAP programme have already made 27,000 arrests?
“I’ll tell you why: because the DA-led Western Cape is the last province with anything left to loot. That’s what this is all about,” he said. “You’ll never see these political mercenaries in small parties campaigning in ANC provinces like Limpopo or North West. Why? Because they know the ANC has already stolen everything there is to steal in those provinces.
“The rest of the country is bankrupt, so the last place left to loot is the Western Cape.”
These remarks prompted Zibi to say: “I stand before you as a freshly minted black radical who wants to take away property rights. Me, former editor of Business Day, senior official in a commercial bank, and an investment bank, and a mining company and a car manufacturing company. Me, but that’s the South Africa in which we live. We don’t know each other, sometimes we refuse to know each other or we decline the opportunity to know each other or understand one another’s experiences,” he said.
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Image: Thapelo Morebudi
DA leader John Steenhuisen is no stranger to controversy and his latest remarks have riled Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi, who accused him of using “swart gevaar” tactics in the DA's campaign against new political parties that are not part of the Multiparty Charter.
Zibi lashed out at the Western Cape governing party, saying it was “arrogant” and its attitude was off-putting for most South Africans.
Zibi made these remarks during an address at the Cape Town Press Club on Wednesday just days after Steenhuisen referred to “political mercenaries” in small parties like Rise Mzansi, Patriotic Alliance, Good and the National Coloured Congress, whom he said were trying to break the DA-led province despite its good governance record.
Addressing the DA’s launch of the provincial manifesto in Paarl at the weekend, Steenhuisen asked: “Why are these parties obsessed with targeting this province — the only province that works, where the 1,200 law enforcement officers deployed under the ground-breaking LEAP programme have already made 27,000 arrests?
“I’ll tell you why: because the DA-led Western Cape is the last province with anything left to loot. That’s what this is all about,” he said. “You’ll never see these political mercenaries in small parties campaigning in ANC provinces like Limpopo or North West. Why? Because they know the ANC has already stolen everything there is to steal in those provinces.
“The rest of the country is bankrupt, so the last place left to loot is the Western Cape.”
These remarks prompted Zibi to say: “I stand before you as a freshly minted black radical who wants to take away property rights. Me, former editor of Business Day, senior official in a commercial bank, and an investment bank, and a mining company and a car manufacturing company. Me, but that’s the South Africa in which we live. We don’t know each other, sometimes we refuse to know each other or we decline the opportunity to know each other or understand one another’s experiences,” he said.
TimesLIVE
READ MORE:
Rise Mzansi's Songezo Zibi accuses 'arrogant' DA of 'swart gevaar' tactics
Steenhuisen’s ‘why are they coming to the Western Cape’ election jab causes a stir
'You choose: ANC, EFF and MK, or multi-party charter': Steenhuisen
Smaller parties that rejected multiparty charter invite have failed the test, says Steenhuisen
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