S. Africa govt condemns unrest sparked by ruling party politics

The South African government has condemned overnight acts of violence in the City of Tshwane in the Pretoria area charging that the law would deal with perpetrators on the political violence that broke out among members of the ruling party.

‘‘Violence, damage to property & infringing on others rights & free movement will not be tolerated by law enforcement agencies,’‘ the government tweeted early Tuesday morning.

‘‘We condemn in the strongest terms the outbreak of violence and destruction of property which has occurred during #TshwaneUnrest,’‘ it added whiles asking for calm

We condemn in the strongest terms the outbreak of violence and destruction of property which has occurred during #TshwaneUnrest

— South African Gov (@GovernmentZA) June 21, 2016

The city of Tshwane in South Africa was rocked by violence as local elections get ever closer, the violence according to local media sources was sparked by protests by members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) over the replacement of the current mayor for the upcoming polls.

The protesters are largely asking for mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa to fielded as the ANC’s candidate instead of Thoko Didiza.

The violence which is now spreading in the Pretoria township is characterized by the burning of tyres and use of rocks to block major roads. There are also reports of attacks on vehicles in other areas.

Local media News24 reports that places like Attridgeville, Mamelodi, Hammanskraal and Soshanguve were all experiencing some measure of the unrest.

It's barely morning & this is happening in Attridgeville. MYANC shame on you. SollyMsimanga and Our_DA only hope pic.twitter.com/QcPCB689zT

— Motheo Mtimkulu (londons_kid) June 21, 2016

They further quote the City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba as confirming an assault on a messenger in Mamelodi and a municipal car attacked.

“We have withdrawn teams on standby. If there’s a service interruption, we won’t be able to respond in order to safeguard the lives of our personnel and assets.”

Opposition slams government and ruling party

The opposition Democratic Alliance meanwhile is accusing the ANC of not being able to manage itself let alone manage affairs of South Africa. This was contained in a tweet by leader of the group, Mmusi Maimane.

‘‘If the ANC can’t manage the ANC how can they govern? Let there be peace in Tshwane. Our nation has undergone violence we can’t return there,’‘ he said.

#TshwaneUnrest https://t.co/U2QQDECKug

— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) June 20, 2016

Tshwane is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centered on the city of Pretoria with surrounding towns and localities included into the local government area.