Johannesburg - Re-elected DA leader John Steenhuisen has come under heavy criticism amid what some have called a direct attack on the EFF and its leader, Julius Malema.
Shortly after being re-elected over the weekend, Steenhuisen declared the EFF his party’s enemy number one.
“I declare Julius Malema’s EFF to be political enemy number one of the DA,” said Steenhuisen.
But he did not stop there. “The day that an ANC/EFF government takes over, it will be doomsday for South Africa,” he said.
“Let me tell you, EFF doomsday will make the collapse of Zimbabwe look like a dress rehearsal, and I believe all South Africans – black, coloured, white and Indian – will be completely destitute and abandoned, and that is why, during the remaining months before next year’s election, the DA will also make it our number one priority and do absolutely everything in our power to prevent an ANC/EFF doomsday coalition from taking power.”
He said an ANC/EFF coalition was already in charge of the cities of Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg.
“The EFF doomsday coalition will expropriate property without compensation and abolish private property rights. The EFF doomsday coalition will nationalise and destroy foreign banks, investments, mines, and other investments in the country.
“The EFF doomsday coalition will plunge this country into ethnic and racial conflict, the likes of which have never been witnessed before, and the cold, hard truth is that the doomsday coalition between the ANC and the EFF has already taken over Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni with the help of its little proxies. Next year, it will be knocking on the doors of the Union Buildings,” Steenhuisen said.
People slammed Steenhuisen for focusing on another opposition party.
Others went as far as suggesting that the EFF was a threat to the DA. Steenhuisen’s office was approached by The Star to confirm or deny this, but media officer Charity McChord failed to respond, despite being given more than eight hours to do so.
Former DA spokesperson Phumzile van Damme questioned why not the ANC of President Cyril Ramaphosa?
“You say you want to govern nationally, but your enemy is a 10 percenter. Not the party in the national government responsible for most of the country’s failures? You don’t want to govern nationally. You want to consolidate a base, and part of that base votes FF+, and you want them to vote for you,” Van Damme said.
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said the EFF was ideologically at odds with the DA. The EFF holds a different view on, for instance, the land question, the economy and the role of the South African Reserve Bank, he said.
“There are also other areas that relate to changing social relations with regard to the economy and economic empowerment. The ANC, on the other hand, is muddled up … It stands for nothing and thus falls for anything. It is for that reason that Ramaphosa is a gift to the DA. He is easily susceptible to influence,” Seepe said.
Some South Africans took to Twitter to express their views on this.
“So the opposition party is opposing another opposition party instead of the governing party? Lawwwwd make it make sense,” said a user by the name of Soca Rebel.
Another, Themba Mazi, wrote: “Because Cyril Ramaphosa is one of them, so Julius Malema is the serious threat?”
EFF national spokespersons Sinawo Thambo and Leigh-Anne Mathys were contacted for comment, but had not responded by the time of publication.
The Star