Violent conduct of Tshwane ANC leaders show they’re not fit to govern

Issued by Crezane Bosch – DA Gauteng North Regional Chairperson
31 Jul 2025 in Press Statements

Note to Editors: Please find English and Afrikaans soundbites by Crezane Bosch MPL here and here 

The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the arrest of ANC Tshwane regional secretary George Matjila on charges of assault.

We understand that the charge emanates from an incident at the ANC’s regional office involving another ANC member. We have also learnt from media reporting that similar accusations have been made against Matjila in the past.

While the DA welcomes the swift action of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in response to charges against Matjila, we want to know what happened to similar charges against other ANC politicians in Tshwane.

Several female councillors in Tshwane have lodged cases of assault against ANC regional spokesperson Cllr Joel Masilela.

The alleged assaults happened at meetings of the Tshwane municipal council, a facility where video evidence is available for police investigation. But nothing came of these complaints.

Similarly, the leader of the EFF in Tshwane Obakeng Ramabodu, now a member of the mayoral committee, has had criminal cases of assault and racist hate speech made against him from his conduct in Tshwane council meetings.

It is clear that leaders of the ANC and the EFF in Tshwane are driven by violent conduct, especially against women. This has been made worse by the impunity with which they seem to operate.

We hope that the Matjila arrest breaks this pattern of impunity. All the same, the personal conduct of ANC leaders in Tshwane makes it clear that the party is not suited to govern the capital city.