S. Africa's ANC slams mayor's Taiwan visit

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Monday slammed a recent visit by Tshwane (Pretoria) Mayor Solly Msimanga to Taiwan, saying the visit is in disrespect of the country's constitution.

As mayor of Tshwane, Msimanga is a senior official bound by existing government policy which de-recognizes Taiwan, the ANC said in a statement to Xinhua.

The City of Tshwane "is not an autonomous state which acts on a frolic of its own outside of government policy," the ANC said.

Msimanga from the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) visited Taiwan during the Christmas holiday in defiance of the one-China policy pursued by the South African central government. The visit has drawn wide criticism.

Msimanga has violated the spirit of cooperative governance as enshrined in the constitution and brought SA's foreign policy into disrepute, the ANC said.

"He (Msimanga) has started a precedence which, if allowed, can only render the entire system of government impotent," it said.

The ANC voiced grave concern that the DA is intent on running a parallel government with its own foreign policy to the detriment of existing government policy, the country's international image and national security.

The ANC has called for issuing a strong demarche to the Taipei Liaison Office in Tshwane to protest the extreme disrespect for the country's foreign policy implicit in Msimanga's invitation to Taipei, it said. Enditem