Right of Reply: Democratic Alliance - WSM is wrong; we did support Emma Powell

Key topics.DA defends Powell amid ANC's alleged smear campaignClaims state security surveilled Powell, leaked reportVisa scandal exposes ANC's failing US diplomacy.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Issued by Willie Aucamp MP – DA National Spokesperson.On Monday, the DA’s Emma Powell made a public revelation about Mcebisi Jonas that created a serious credibility issue for President Ramaphosa. Many have reported this as a “cover up” by Ramaphosa and “misleading” the nation. Since Powell’s revelation there has been no denial that Jonas was refused a visa to the United States. Powell’s revelation has not been denied by the Presidency or the ANC, because they cannot deny it. Instead of presenting the truth, they have launched a complete deflection and false ad-hominem attacks against Emma. This is a mark of absolute desperation. The ANC President and his party are completely on the back foot after having failed at US relations, and failed to secure a trade deal. No one else is to blame. South Africans see right through the ANC’s deflection. Emma Powell has been doing an outstanding job of defending and advancing South Africa’s interests on the world stage, and we back her all the way. On the other hand, the ANC has badly harmed our relations with the USA because of their cozy relations with rogue nations like Iran and Russia. Their failures cannot be scapegoated onto a DA MP as a smokescreen for their own failures. To undermine Powell, the ANC has been abusing state resources to fight its party battles. The National Security Council report which was leaked to the Sowetan earlier this week shows that the state has been spying on Powell. This is scandalous and reveals the true character of the ANC. The ANC of today is behaving exactly like the National Party did years ago – it pretends and tries to convince others that the ANC’s interests are the country’s interests. They are NOT. The ANC is destroying South Africa with its inherent corruption and malfeasance. The DA is trying to rescue South Africa from the ANC. The ANC is merely a minority political party in South Africa, it is not South Africa itself, and needs to come to terms with this reality. The most patriotic intentions of the DA, to build the strongest trade relations with democratic nations, will not be deterred by ANC deflections and false narratives..Sowetan leaks alleged National Security Council Report By Emma Louise Powell MP - DA Spokesperson on International Relations & Cooperation I note with grave concern the Sowetan Newspaper story: “Report Links DA MP to Anti-SA Narrative”. On the 16th of July 2025, I was asked for comment on an unspecified report by Sowetan journalist, Jeanette Chabalala, who noted that serious allegations had been made against me in regards to the DA’s visit to the United States in February 2025. I subsequently contacted the Sowetan’s Editor, Sibongakonke Shoba, to ascertain the veracity of the report. He declined to provide me with a copy of the report but confirmed that it was produced by state security services and had served before the National Security Council (NSC) and the President. Reports serving before NSC are classified. This comes on the back of my recent media exposé in regards to Mcebisi Jonas’s failure to obtain a diplomatic visa. It is clear that there is an insidious political agenda at play, in which taxpayer-funded state security services are potentially being weaponised against sitting Members of Parliament in order to achieve political objectives. The DA has been clear about who our delegation met with in the United States and the nature of our trip. Both the DA's media statement following the trip and subsequent public interviews provide detailed information in this regard. Both the potential surveillance of a sitting Member of Parliament by state security services as well as the targeted leaking of a classified report in a clear attempt to tarnish and intimidate such a Member in performing her duties are serious criminal offences under South African law. This follows on the back of General Makwanazi’s revelations of organised crime having infiltrated the Police and State Security at the highest levels. On the evening *of 16 July, the DA’s lawyers wrote to both the President and the Minister of State Security requesting an urgent investigation into both the commissioning and leaking of such an alleged report. This correspondence will be provided to the media on request. There is no place in a constitutional democracy for Members of Parliament to be actively su*rveilled by the State in performing their functions, and representing their political parties on the international stage. As the ANC continues to engage with its friends in the axis of malign actors, the likes of Russia and Iran, the DA will continue to openly and constructively engage with the international community of democracies. .Response from William Saunderson-Meyer: "I stand entirely by the contents of my BizNews interview and PoliticsWeb column".Subscriber Mailbox: DA lacks leadership and needs to replace Steenhuisen.Sent in by Charl Oosthuizen.The way in which DA leader John Steenhuisen's party has been pandering to Ramaphosa's 40% ANC has been rather disappointing! May we remind you, John, that the Cadres no longer hold a majority vote!The current ANC is more radical, more emboldened and more arrogant than ever seen before. Why is this? Well, the DA, in whom so many of us faithful voters had trusted for decades, have turned out to be a bunch of puppy dogs lying on their backs, waiting for a tummy scratch! One of my early rugby coaches always used to say: " if you want to run with the pack, you can't pee like a puppy"- that is the DA of today! A bunch of 'Hollwood actors' who put on such a great show, yet, doesn't seem to act on anything they say! Steenhuisen leads from the front, always posing for the cameras, reminding us of how they apparently hold Ramaphosa's ANC to account! Is that why Andrew Whitfield got dumped, and Emma Powell got threatened and pushed out, without the DA even saying a word or showing some sort of backbone or support for its members? Or how about an ANC chair being chosen for the ad hoc committee in the case of Mkwanazi accusing members of police of corruption and other egregious sins? How on Earth is this supposed to build public trust?I could go on further to mention the DA's lack of leadership in the recent debacle which involves Pretoria Girls High school....Steenhuisen's predictable silence whilst he had a golden opportunity at the the White House when Trump raised the question about Malema still not having been arrested...the passing of certain racist laws by the ANC such as the BELA Bill...the DA's support for LGBTQ and it's seemingly defenseless attitude when Ramaphosa's ANC demanded complete control of the Foreign Affairs ministry when the GNU was first formed! Or how about DA's ties with the evil, GLOBALIST World Economic Forum!There is so much I could still mention..but I think we get the picture now!The DA, ANC alliance is getting seemingly cosier by the day, and the more the DA panders to aggressive ANC policies and demands, the more the public is losing trust in Steenhuisen's party! Here we are, 30 years into democracy, still being punished, bullied, suppressed and racially divided by a ruthless, unchallenged ANC beast that just keeps devouring our people, crushing our nation- and what does the DA do now that it has a little bit of power? Absolutely nothing!To Steenhuisen, Madam Zille and all other DA/ANC puppets- wake up and smell the coffee please! You are busy selling us out to a Leftist, Communist movement who uses Apartheid to justify its own racist ideologies....plunging us into the abyss of an Iran-backed Cadre- rewarding rulership that lives and breathes by the funding of dirty foreign actors! Something needs to change- Drastically!

Right of Reply: Democratic Alliance - WSM is wrong; we did support Emma Powell

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