Threats ‘foreign to DA’ major worry

FORMER DA KZN leader Sizwe Mchunu said yesterday he hoped reports of intimidation against party members in the lead-up to the provincial congress next Saturday would not affect the outcome.

In a Facebook post, Mchunu said he was aware of rumours of party members being threatened, belittled and attacked for exercising their democratic right – something he said was tantamount to hooliganism, tyranny and foreign to the DA.

On Sunday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane called on its members in KwaZulu-Natal to come forward and report any threats and intimidation as the party prepared for its provincial congress next week.

Maimane warned that if any candidate was found guilty of intimidating opponents, they could be disqualified from the race.

“I have heard about these incidents and they’re very disturbing. If there’s any truth to these rumours, it does bring into question our identity as the DA because such tendencies are foreign to us,” Mchunu told Independent Media yesterday.

He said people were allowed to exercise their democratic choice, and this was clear in the party’s founding principles.

“All that we need to do is to create a space for people to exercise their democratic choice.

“Rumours that seek to suggest that there are people who’ve been threatened and asked why they were supporting certain individuals who have been blocked from attending meetings by other candidates is disturbing and foreign to the DA,” Mchunu said.

He said he wanted to believe that the party would deal with the culprits if the rumours were found to have substance. However, with regards to the congress taking place, Mchunu said he hoped sanity would prevail.

“I hope that precedent is going to prevail and members of the DA will conduct themselves with decorum,” said Mchunu.

DA eThekwini councillor Christopher Pappas, who had also taken to Facebook to condemn acts of intimidation against members of the party, said his post was based on how he felt about a meeting he had attended in Pietermaritzburg hosted by one of the candidates.

“Everything I said in my post was said by somebody at that meeting or something I experienced at that meeting. There are a number of people who were at that meeting who share a similar view,” Pappas said.

DA provincial leader Zwakele Mncwango said he had not received any complaints regarding the reports of intimidation.