S. African ruling party warns against political threats

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday warned against death threats directed at political leaders, activists and journalists in South Africa.

The ANC "is concerned at what appears to be a climate of intimidation steadily encroaching into South Africa's body politic," the party said in a statement.

This came after Parliament reported earlier that Makhosi Khoza, Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, had received threatening phone calls during her committee's oversight visits to the Mpumalanga province.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) also reported last week that there had been attempts to assassinate SACP Second Deputy General Secretary Solly Mapaila on the occasion of the Chris Hani Commemoration on April 10 this year.

Hani, former SACP secretary general and a fierce opponent of the apartheid government, was murdered in 1993.

The resurgence of political intolerance, of political witch hunt and of political assassinations in South Africa is extremely concerning, the SACP said.

In recent months, there have been increasing reports of political leaders, activists and journalists who have come forward with claims that they have been intimidated by certain elements owing to their positions of beliefs, according to the ANC.

"Some claim to even have received threats on their lives," ANC National Communications Manager Khusela Sangoni said.

The ANC considers these threats in a very serious light and calls on those who have been threatened to report such to law enforcement authorities who must verify these claims and investigate, Sangoni said.

He said threats made against individuals because of their political or ideological beliefs is indicative of intellectual and moral bankruptcy.

"Such behavior is an antithesis to the health and pluralistic society we seek to build where the contestation of ideas thrives," the ANC statement said.

Freedom of conscience and association are inalienable rights granted to all under the Constitution in the country whose history is littered with violence and media suppression, the party said.

Political intolerance would take South Africa back to a painful past that should not be repeated, said the ANC.

The ANC calls on all South Africans to unite behind their common vision of a pluralistic society and jealously guard their hard-won freedoms, including freedom of speech and association.

"We will not allow our country to become a breeding ground for political intolerance, which history has starkly shown can very quickly become a catalyst for anarchy and lawlessness," the party said.

Those who plot in dark corners and make anonymous threats as well and other forms of intimidation of others should pursue principled and legitimate forms of engagement instead of resorting to cowardly acts, the ANC added. Enditem