Opposition parties accuse the ANC of being behind #AlexTotalShutdown

Opposition parties have unanimously accused the ANC of ‘orchestrating’ the recent #AlexTotalShutdown campaign and said it was ‘a cheap, politic strategy that may turn around to the bite the ruling party’ at the May 8 elections.

This was the message from the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) national spokesperson Solly Malatsi during the recent South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) at the Cyril Harris Community Centre in the Houghton Estate.

The same sentiment was echoed by the Inkatha Freedom Party’s (IFP) national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) leader the Rev Kenneth Meshoe and Cope’s Tom Mofokeng, who came in the place of his leader Mosioua Lekota.

Representing the ANC at the debate which was facilitated by Mandy Wiener and streamed live by the Jewish community radio station, Chai FM, was Pelesa Nkomo, a member of the ANC elections team who came in the place of Fikile Mbalula, who was deployed from the police minister to head the party’s election machinery.

Nkomo distanced the ANC from the #AlexTotalShutdown, saying the whole shutdown campaign was organised by the community of Alexandra who she said were tired of the non-delivery of services by the DA, EFF and other parties coalition government’ that runs the City of Johannesburg.

“The whole shutdown was orchestrated from Luthuli House. We have evidence of the Twitter accounts and WhatsApps that opened specifically to run the #AlexTotalShutdown and the messages that were doing the rounds between ANC politicians at head office and those in Alexandra,” Malatsi said.

“Why are such protests only taking place in municipalities that are not run by the ANC? Why are there no protests in Ekurhuleni for instance which is nothing but a shack-land of no service delivery? Even a fool can see through the lies of the ANC and cheap politicking.”

Hlengwa described the shutdown as ‘reckless, irresponsible and will not contribute to the resolution issues in Alexandra but instead will serve to polarise situation there even further and can prove to be hurtful to the ANC come the May 8 elections’.

Cope’s Mofokeng said he was equally disturbed the ‘dirty politicking of the ANC in the iconic township which we should come together and try and solve the impasse than trying to score political points at the expense of our people’.

Rev Meshoe said the township was being used a political football by the ANC. “They [ANC] failed to deliver in 25 years and they keep telling people that reversing the apartheid damage was not an overnight issue.

“The poor mayor of Johannesburg was grappling with damage caused by apartheid that also caused by years of an ANC administration riddled with corruption,” Meshoe said.

When her turn came to pose her view, Nkomo was forthright and asked the mayor to go and hear what the people of Alexandra wanted from him. “Why is he scared of visiting even after they have issued an open invitation to him to come and address them,” she said.

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