The war of words between the ANC and DA over the visit to Israel by the latter’s leader Mmusi Maimane has escalated with the ruling party accusing the DA of lying.
The ANC said on Monday the DA lied when it claimed Maimane had a scheduled meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
The Palestinian embassy in Pretoria issued a statement on Monday denying there was ever such a meeting.
When the embassy of Palestine expose the DA for lying... 😠 pic.twitter.com/xibHPXTl6C
— Bram Hanekom (@bram_hanekom) January 16, 2017
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said this exposed the lies of the DA and its leader, Maimane, about the true nature of the visit to Israel.
“It is clear from this that the DA blatantly lied in their widely disseminated media release of 12 January. This blatant misrepresentation is clearly an attempt to whitewash their visit to the apartheid Israeli state,” said Kodwa.
Earlier on Monday, DA national spokesperson Phumzile Van Damme fired off a series of tweets insisting that Maimane had tried to meet with Abbas and that the embassy has not been involved.
Er! SAns don't require a visa to travel to the region, of course the Embassy wasn't contacted. We communicated directly with the Pres office https://t.co/345aeMOAZf
— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) January 16, 2017
Maimane's office was in touch with the SA embassy's office in Ramallah & the Palestinian Authority President's office.
— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) January 16, 2017
The meeting was cancelled on the day by the President's office after several email exchanges arranging and confirming the meeting.
— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) January 16, 2017
The DA has been caught in a diplomatic row with the ANC and its government over their visit to Taiwan and Israel.
In December DA mayor in Tshwane Solly Msimanga visited Taiwan, which has no diplomatic ties with Pretoria.
Last week it was the turn of the party leader, Maimane, who visited Israel to the anger of the ANC and pro-Palestinian groups in South Africa.