Former safety and security minister, Dr Sydney Mufamadi has expressed concern with the ongoing campaigns by lobby groups AfriForum and Solidarity in the United States which have been credited for sparking wrath against South Africa by US President Donald Trump.
IOL reported last month that lobby groups AfriForum and Solidarity have faced unprecedented backlash within South Africa, after Trump unleashed a raft of sanctions against South Africa, including cutting financial aid which benefitted millions of poor individuals.
The lobby groups have led long-running campaigns in the United States, engaging top Washington officials and appealing for action against South Africa’s transformation and expropriation laws.
Speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, Mufamadi who is currently President Cyril Ramaphosa's national security advisor said if the lobby groups do not start dialing down on the “noise”, a perception will be created that the government is treating the organisations with kid gloves.
“The problem is, if they don't start dialing down on that noise, and they continue to overreach … the more they overreach, the more a perception will gain root that government is walking softly around them. That government is allowing them to trump the will of the majority,” he said.
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“If that impression is allowed to gain root because of this mischief that I am talking about, you will then have a situation in which people say government is sparing its decisiveness thereby spoiling the spoilers. We do not want that feeling to gain currency because the consequences of that are too ghastly to contemplate.”
Mufamadi said the actions of the lobby groups makes the majority of people in South Africa feel betrayed.
“What clearly they are not going to do in Washington is shopping. They are going to Washington to speak about their own country in a manner that makes the majority of our people feel betrayed. That is clearly divisive and for a country of our history, it threatens to resuscitate the hostilities of the past,” he said.
“If this is not stopped, one can imagine what happens to the nation-building and democracy-building project. That project gets derailed.”
On Saturday, IOL reported that respected political analyst, Professor Amanda Gouws says the multiple campaigns by lobby groups AfriForum and Solidarity in the United States undermine the South African government, and will bear negative consequences for South Africa.
Several groups and individuals have opened police cases against Solidarity and AfriForum, insisting that the lobby groups must be charged with treason, following their campaigns in the United States calling for action against South Africa’s transformation and expropriation laws.
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