The Democratic Alliance has accused the ANC of not caring about investment and jobs.

This follows criticism by the ANC of Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga for undertaking a trip recently to Taiwan to seek investment opportunities‚ charging that the visit was in conflict with South Africa’s recognition of a One China policy.   

The ANC was quoted on Monday as saying that government representatives who contravened national foreign policy should have their official passports confiscated.

Responding to the ANC’s criticism‚ DA spokesman on international relations and cooperation Stevens Mokgalapa said that the ANC had shown once again just how little it valued job-creating investment in South Africa with its “petty‚ hypocritical attack” on Msimanga.

“With 9 million jobless South Africans‚ the DA praises the attempt by Mayor Msimanga to encourage investment in South Africa. This is what our country needs to create jobs and fight poverty.

“This simply isn’t a priority for the ANC — they are a party of cronyism‚ fighting to protect corrupt interests. The people of Tshwane‚ like the rest of South Africa‚ come stone last.

“The reality is that their baseless attacks stem from their unwillingness to accept that they have lost control of many municipalities across South Africa‚” Mokgalapa asserted.

He reminded the ANC that neither the ANC nor the national government it ran could dictate who DA Mayors met with in order to obtain job-creating investment‚ and that such international trips were allowed.

“Indeed‚ the former ANC Mayor of Tshwane‚ Kgosientso Ramokgopa‚ embarked on international trips to encourage growth – including a 12-day business trip to the United States.

“The ANC should also be duly reminded — so as to end their glaring hypocrisy – that South Africa maintains relations with Taiwan through the South African Liaison Office in Taiwan.

“That the party of national government chooses to ignore this in order to score cheap political points‚ demonstrates precisely why our country’s foreign policy is such a mess‚ no longer based on Madiba’s six pillars and most importantly‚ human rights‚” Mokgalapa said.

He added that the DA was committed to creating jobs‚ delivering better services and stopping corruption where it governed.

“We will not let an uncaring‚ hypocritical ANC stand in the way of DA governments doing their job for all the people.”