Ramaphosa of South Africa labels the opposition’s burning of the flag as “treasonous”

An opposition party’s campaign ad featuring the national flag burning was deemed “treasonous” by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as political party tensions increased three weeks prior to the election.

The burning flag is a metaphor used in the Democratic Alliance’s campaign ad, which was released on Monday, to illustrate the serious danger of the ruling African National Congress maintaining power through a coalition with left-leaning parties.

Ramaphosa told reporters, “I think it is treasonous,” while in the province of Limpopo. “It’s the most heinous political act anyone can commit,” he declared, charging the DA with desecrating a symbol of togetherness in the country.

The last election, five years ago, saw the business-friendly DA secure the second-largest proportion of the vote. Polls indicate that the ANC will lose its majority for the first time since taking office 30 years ago with the end of apartheid in this year’s fiercely contested May 29 election.

The likelihood that the ANC will need to create a coalition has increased as a result of this.

A narrator in the advertisement warns of a disastrous coalition between the ANC, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and people who support former President Jacob Zuma while a flag slowly burns.

After that, the words “Unite to rescue South Africa, vote DA” appear as an intact flag emerges from the ashes of the burned one.

“We chose the flag because it best embodies the vision we had together thirty years ago, at the outset of President Nelson Mandela’s democratic era. The fires demonstrate how 30 years of ANC leadership have destroyed his vision,” former DA leader and federal council chair Helen Zille wrote in an editorial piece.

Speaking on Radio 702, Zille claimed that those who would never support the DA in the first place were the source of the pushback.
It generates an option. Do you participate in the flag burning? Do you support the DA and other groups like it or are you a member of their brigade?” she asked.

Although DA leader John Steenhuisen has not ruled out working with the ANC in government, he has dubbed the idea of an ANC-EFF alliance a “doomsday” scenario for South Africa.

For its side, the ANC has said that it will win the election and that a coalition is not necessary. It received little over 40% of the votes in the most recent opinion survey.