The ANC does not represent South Africa in its immoral support for Russia, DA leader John Steenhuisen told the people of Ukraine during his recent visit to the east European nation.
Steenhuisen addressed the media in Cape Town on Monday on his week-long fact-finding trip to the war-torn country early this month, saying the Ukrainians believed South Africa has aligned itself with Russia notwithstanding that in fact South Africans are “overwhelmingly” appalled by what “the Russian military is doing to the people of Ukraine, and to their towns, cities and countryside”.
Steenhuisen said he shared with the Ukrainians that the ANC does not care for the interests of South Africans, adding that he set the record straight that the ruling party only cares for its financial gains.
Said Steenhuisen: “The ANC most certainly does not speak for South Africa on Ukraine, and that was a big part of my message to the people I met there. This included mayors, governors, members of parliament, members of the opposition, former prime ministers, academics, leaders of civil society, and ordinary citizens.
“I told them all the same thing: Our ANC government speaks only for its own narrow financial interests. It does not represent the citizens of South Africa in its immoral support for Russia.
“I assured them that our government’s disgraceful stance in the UN votes and its shameless attendance of Russian functions glorifying their military on the day their invasion got under way was viewed as a stain on our country by the majority of our citizens.”
He also pledged support to the Ukrainians and vowed that South Africans would continue to coerce the ANC government to change its stance and convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his army.
“The ripples of this war are only just starting to arrive on our shores now, but they will soon be waves that will cause great suffering to ordinary South Africans, and particularly to a sector of our society that cannot afford any further economic hardship,” he said.
During his visit, the DA leader learnt that the war will have severe global economic consequences, saying it would mainly affect the “poorest of the poor”.
“Think for a moment about the disproportionate amount of disposable income that poor South Africans spend on transport costs, on staple foods like bread and maize, and on things like cooking oil.
“Sharp rises in these products will hit all of us in the pocket, but for those who spend such a large portion of their monthly income on these basics, the effect of this war will be unbearable,” he said.
Elaborating on the implications of the war for South Africans and the future of South Africa’s international relations, Steenhuisen said the cost of transport, staple food like bread and maize, and other things like cooking oil have already hit South Africans hard in the pocket.
“That is why I get angry when I hear people say ‘this is not our war, we needn’t involve ourselves or speak out’. That is why the position that our government has taken, which is to avoid saying or doing anything that might offend Russia, is so deeply immoral.
“They are not the ones who will send their children to bed, night after night, with no food. It’s easy to say this war is not our problem when you are cushioned from the real world by unimaginable privilege.”
Steenhuisen urged South Africans to be on the right side of history. “History will judge those who support this unjust war harshly, along with those who in a time of moral crisis remained silent.
“We must choose freedom, we must choose democracy, and we must choose the right side of history,” he added.
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