By: Sello Theletsane
The Executive Mayor of the Central Karoo, Gayton McKenzie, has hit out at the DA-led provincial Western Cape government for accepting mealie meal from Taiwan and handing it out in his district.
The Western Cape MEC of agriculture, Ivan Meyer, on Monday handed out bags of mealie meal from the government of Taiwan during a visit to the town of Matjiesfontein, which falls under the municipality of Laingsburg, and has a mayor in a coalition government that excludes the Democratic Alliance.
That arrangement means that the DA is currently in the opposition benches there. However, those councillors participated in a formal provincial government event in a partnership that involved what McKenzie has described as the “supposed government” of Taiwan.
In letters addressed to Premier Alan Winde, COGTA MEC Anton Bredell, COGTA Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor, McKenzie described the gesture by Meyer and his supporters as “highly problematic, given that the Republic of South Africa does not recognise any self-described government of Taiwan, and South Africa has maintained a One China policy since 1996, which was formalised in 1998”.
He pointed out that South Africa is a unitary state, and “it should be an inconceivable risk to create a pointless diplomatic disaster to gain a few bags of mealie meal branded with a message of ‘Love from Taiwan’”.
He stated “for the record” that the government of the Central Karoo and the municipalities under it did not recognise Taiwan as a separate state.
“We view what occurred yesterday as a childish act of civil disobedience from a sphere of government that should simply know better. Let us not betray our country for bags of maize.”
He asked the national government to engage with the Western Cape government to “educate them and correct this behaviour”.
