ANC to Zille: Sorry for the short notice‚ but please welcome the Hamas leaders



The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape on Wednesday seemed to try provoke Premier Helen Zille by extending an invitation to her to “Welcome the Palestinian Hamas leaders”. The party’s chief whip in the provincial legislature‚ Pierre Uys‚ said it would be “appropriate” for the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Zille to officially meet the delegation – led by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal – as she had “previously welcomed other political leaders and personalities”.A party statement contained a letter from Uys to Zille dated –and stamped – October 20‚ 2015‚ and acknowledged that “due to security concerns‚ the visit was only made public very late”.The letter gave Zille until the end of the day to let the ANC know if she “can personally welcome them‚ or at very least issue a public statement welcoming them to the Western Cape”.“They arrive on Wednesday‚” the statement helpfully added.Earlier in the missive‚ Uys claimed the province is “indeed known across the world for its support of the Palestinian peoples”.An earlier statement from the provincial ANC demanded that Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille must award Meshaal “the freedom of the city”.“The people of the Western Cape have held a clear view in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Unfortunately the DA leadership of this province has betrayed the will of our people‚ as the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government continue to enjoy cosy relations with Israel and the Israeli lobby‚” it said.The ANC added that the DA must “act honestly in line with the will of the people of Western Cape and publicly end all its Israeli relations and dealings”.“Unfortunately the DA stands with Israel and we doubt will have the decency of welcoming the visiting Hamas delegation - their Israeli masters won’t allow them.”The first statement made‚ however‚ made no reference to the short notice that the ANC was giving the opposition party to accede to its requests.