The Freedom Front Plus (FFP) has rejected with contempt threats by the government and International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola to clamp down on political opponents and civil rights groups by depriving them of their citizenship on the grounds of the so-called spreading of “false information” abroad.
The right-wing political party’s reaction came after Lamola supported a call for action against individuals and organisations deemed to be spreading misinformation about South Africa abroad. In addition, the chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee, Supra Mahumapelo, has made the proposal for the introduction of legislation that will give effect to provisions of the Constitution that allow for citizenship to be stripped.
In a statement, Dr Corné Mulder, FF Plus leader, said the proposal to prosecute opposition voices for “treason” simply because they proclaim the truth about SA in international forums is also extremely dangerous and unacceptable.
“It is reminiscent of the tactics of dictators such as Stalin and Lenin, and modern authoritarian leaders such as Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua who used state violence and intimidation to silence alternative voices. When a government can no longer deal with the truth about its own failures, it tries to silence those who talk about it through threats and the deprivation of their fundamental rights such as citizenship in this case.”
Mulder strongly warned against such a call: “South Africa is a constitutional democracy, and the country’s Constitutional Court has repeatedly made it clear that the state may not use the arbitrary deprivation of citizenship as a punitive political measure. Section 20 of South Africa’s Constitution unambiguously protects the right to citizenship, while Section 16 guarantees the right to freedom of expression.”
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He added: “Lamola and the ANC, as part of the government, should bear in mind that their support has already fallen to well below 50% and that South Africa is not a one-party regime under the ANC.”
Mulder said that criticism of a corrupt and incompetent government is not criticism of the country.
“In South Africa’s case, it is quite the opposite: It is a sincere attempt to protect the country and its people from further state decay and state abuses. Over the past 30 years, the ANC government has brought South Africa to the brink of total decay through large-scale corruption, state capture, crime and harmful racial policies. While the ANC’s support is now tumbling to record lows, attempts are being made to create a police state in which no critical voice is tolerated.”
Mulder said his party will not allow itself to be gagged, intimidated or blackmailed by any threat from the ANC.
“The party will continue to inform the public and the international community at every possible forum about the real state of affairs in South Africa, the suppression of minority rights and the increasing authoritarian tendencies of the ANC,” said Mulder.
