The Democratic Alliance party removed a statue of the architect of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd, in Midvaal, south of Gauteng, on Wednesday night, the FF Plus claimed on Thursday morning

“This action by the DA was calculated and happened at night, two  weeks before the local government elections, to win over black votes in Midvaal,” said Freedom Front Plus Gauteng leader Jaco Mulder in a statement.

“But the DA will have to explain this step to the mainly Afrikaner community of Midvaal, with whose mandate it runs the municipality.”   

This showed that the Democratic Alliance “was no friend of the Afrikaner”, he added.

“The FF Plus condemns this step because Dr Verwoerd was born in Heidelberg and had a historical connection with Meyerton [a town in  the Midvaal municipality] and this step by the DA shows disrespect for a piece of the town’s heritage.”   

The ruling African National Congress on Wednesday criticised the  continued “hoisting high” of Verwoerd’s bust in the DA-run Midvaal municipality as a “display of sheer arrogance”.

“[This] is yet another confirmation that the DA shares apartheid  sentiments and philosophies, which for years racially polarised the  South African society... ,” spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.

The Sowetan on Tuesday quoted mayor Timothy Nast saying that people would be “very angry” if the money were to be spent on removing the bust from outside the municipal buildings in Meyerton,  instead of on improved services.

“Mr Nast’s insensitive comment... remains an insult to millions of South Africans who were on the receiving end of apartheid,” Mthembu charged.