Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder has demanded the dismissal of Democratic Alliance (DA) chief strategist Ryan Coetzee, opening another front in the battle for conservative voters.
The attack comes barely two weeks before the November 4 municipal elections, with both parties competing for largely the same Afrikaans-speaking constituency.
Mulder accused Coetzee of undermining South Africa’s relations with the United States and attacking Western civilisation.
But the confrontation also exposes the electoral rivalry between two parties competing for voters who share conservative political and economic values.
READ MORE: FF Plus targets black voters before Local Government Elections
In a statement on Monday, Mulder said Coetzee had adopted positions similar to those of the African National Congress (ANC).
He accused the strategist of “fanning the flames of the ANC’s anti-American sentiments” during a diplomatic dispute between Pretoria and Washington.
The controversy followed remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Athens on October 7. Rubio urged Western nations to rediscover the values underpinning their civilisation and strengthen their international alliances.
Coetzee subsequently criticised the political tradition Rubio represented. He described it as “the wrong one” and argued that it “needs to be defeated again and again and again”.
Mulder seized on those remarks to question whether voters could trust the DA’s political direction.
“This needless onslaught is shocking, reckless and extremely damaging to South Africa’s international relations – particularly with the US,” Mulder said.
DA challenged to take a stand
He demanded that the DA publicly distance itself from Coetzee or dismiss him.
“The DA cannot sit on the fence regarding this matter.”
“If the DA does not agree with Coetzee, he should be summarily dismissed.”
The intervention carries particular electoral significance because the DA and FF Plus have repeatedly competed for conservative Afrikaans-speaking voters.
READ MORE: FF Plus throws 11 mayoral candidates into Gauteng coalition battle
The FF Plus gained support among former DA voters in 2019, before the DA recovered sections of that constituency in 2024.
That contest has become especially important in the Western Cape and Gauteng, where both parties seek support among traditional opposition voters.
Yet Mulder recently identified the DA as his preferred coalition partner in Tshwane.
In September, he said: “My first choice would be to have a coalition in Tshwane between the Democratic Alliance and the Freedom Front Plus.”
He also acknowledged their shared electoral constituency and promised to avoid attacks on the DA.
“I have given clear instructions in our party: we are not going to attack the DA,” he said.
Coalition allies clash over Western values
Monday’s confrontation marks a departure from that approach.
Mulder now presents the DA’s internal political differences as a test of its credibility among voters concerned about Western relations.
He accused Coetzee of sharing the ANC’s “anti-American sentiments and hostility towards the Trump administration”.
Mulder argued that businesses, farmers and ordinary South Africans were already suffering from deteriorating relations with Western partners.
“If the DA truly is committed to restoring South Africa’s international relations and protecting the economy, it will not allow those in its inner circle to make such reckless remarks.”
The DA’s response to Mulder’s dismissal demand had not been established at the time of writing.
- Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder has called for the dismissal of Democratic Alliance chief strategist Ryan Coetzee over remarks undermining South Africa's relations with the US.
- Mulder accused Coetzee of adopting positions similar to the African National Congress and fanning anti-American sentiments during a diplomatic dispute.
- Coetzee criticized US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's comments on Western civilization, calling Rubio’s political tradition "the wrong one".
- The FF Plus and DA are competing for mainly the same conservative Afrikaans-speaking voters ahead of the November 4 municipal elections.
- Mulder previously refrained from attacking the DA and supported coalition talks but has now challenged the DA to distance itself from Coetzee or dismiss him.
