THE DA has lashed out at the African National Congress’ Youth League (ANCYL) for acting as international observers to witness a series of ‘sham’ referendums aimed the annexation of Ukrainian territory by the Russian military.
The official party said the ANCYL was not only lending official credibility to these sham polls, but seemingly carrying the full weight and backing of South Africa’s governing party.
The party described the ANCYL’s actions as a flagrant disregard of international law as well as a violation of South Africa’s Constitution.
“This is both a flagrant disregard for international law, and a violation of South Africa’s very own constitution. It is also in direct conflict with the ANC-led national government’s official response to the conflict which states that South Africa is non-aligned, and supports dialogue to resolve what is nothing more than a Russian attack on the sovereignty of a neighbouring country,” said Darren Bergman, DA’s Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.
The DA called on the ANC to clearly state who paid for the trip of the ANC Youth League members to “observe” the voting in polling stations in the Ukranian territories that the Russian military has conquered.
“South Africans have the right to know who funded this trip that is widely regarded as a complete sham and a legitimisation of Russia’s forceful and bloody invasion of Ukraine,” said Bergman.
“If the ANC does not come clean and reveal who funded this trip, the DA will launch our own investigation to get the facts. We cannot allow the ANC to bulldoze through the Constitution and our international commitments to turn South Africa into a global pariah state.”
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