Kasrils cancels visit to DA ward

ANC stalwart Ronnie Kasrils has denied the DA’s claim that he would be featured at a party public meeting as a former ANC minister.

The former intelligence minister said it was “highly regrettable” that he had to cancel his visit to the offices of the DA’s Peter Fisher, a friend of his.

Kasrils said he had only agreed to a request by Fisher’s widow to visit the late Fisher’s office in ward 59 to speak privately to his fellow office workers.

In a scathing letter to the DA’s ward 59 councillor, Ian Iversen, Kasrills said: “I am surprised to learn of your advertisement of a DA public meeting featuring me as former ANC minister. I have not agreed to any such public meeting. As you well know, I will be in Cape Town to speak at a memorial meeting for the late Peter Fisher of the DA, arranged by his partner and my relative, Liz, and the DA.”

Kasrils said a message from Iversen was informally conveyed asking whether he would share some of his political views after he agreed to visit the offices.

“I agreed to that, but not with respect to an open public meeting or anything other than a small private chat lasting 30 minutes of sharing viewpoints. It is well known that I am by no means a DA supporter.”

“I am unhappy that you have changed the private nature of my visit into the context of a public event about political issues without notifying me… This is highly regrettable. I therefore am having to cancel the visit to your office,” he wrote.

Responding to Kasrils’s letter, Iversen said there was a misunderstanding, as the proposed meeting was based on the message they had received regarding his willingness to address a DA function.