DURBAN - DESPITE receiving numerous letters calling for Police Minister Bheki Cele and State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo to be fired, President Cyril Ramaphosa has not yet responded.
The DA, Cope and citizens rights group Real Democracy wrote to Ramaphosa two weeks ago, calling on him to fire the two security cluster ministers for their alleged failure to pre-empt the anarchy.
The incidents resulted in widespread looting and vandalism of infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Cope national spokesperson Dennis Bloem said they had not yet received comment from the president.
“The president is very quiet, no one knows what is happening in this country,” Bloem said.
Earlier he had written to Ramaphosa, calling on him to fire Dlodlo and Cele because “they had let the country down”.
“Two hundred and twelve people lost their lives. Billions of rand of damages, with thousands of workers who are now unemployed,” read the letter to Ramaphosa.
“Cope is calling upon President Ramaphosa to, for the first time, put the interests of the country above the interests of the ANC,” he said.
On Monday, DA leader John Steenhuisen said he had not yet received a response from the president.
He had also called for the president to fire Cele and Dlodlo.
He said the country could not afford to have its national security undermined by ministers, who had failed dismally in their roles to pre-empt this sort of attack and defend the people.
“In any other democracy, there would be no question that their heads would roll for this utter failure of intelligence and preparedness.
“If the safety of South Africans comes before the unity of the ANC, then Cele and Dlodlo must go,” Steenhuisen wrote.
He added that while the president had acknowledged that the violence and looting was a deliberate co-ordinated attack on the country’s democracy, he had failed to acknowledge that this was ANC factional fighting that had spilt on to the streets of KZN and Gauteng.
Real Democracy chairperson Srini Naidoo said he also had not yet received a response from the president.
He said the violence in KZN had created a state of grave concern for the public, especially the atrocities that occurred in Phoenix.
He said vigilantes filled the vacuum left by law enforcement and took up arms to protect life and property, whether rightly or wrongly.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Tyrone Seale said: “The Presidency is unable to comment on appointments to the national executive, as this is a presidential prerogative.”
Daily News