FF Plus leader Corne Mulder has a message for DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis after unprovoked attack

FF Plus leader Corne Mulder said that while the DA ministers struggle to perform, his party’s Minister, Pieter Groenewald, is performing exceptionally well.

Mulder’s message followed DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis’s attack on Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald over the number of untraceable parolees.

“Nearly 28,000 parolees are untraceable. Many of these are violent criminals, now walking free, putting the public at risk,” he said.

“Pieter Groenewald must not hide behind excuses. He must act today to find these parolees, bring them back before the law, and hold every official accountable.”

Groenewald responded, explaining that the number of untraceable parolees in South Africa goes back to 1991.

“I am in the process of issuing electronic bracelets for parolees. There is progress. I had a parole summit last September to discuss revisions to the parole system,” he said.

He added that his department is busy with legislative amendments to improve the system. “Don’t practice cheap politics,” he told Hill-Lewis.

The DA leader continued his attack, saying that a summit means little. “28,000 parolees, many of them convicted of violent offences, are missing on your watch.”

“You want the victims of murderers and rapists who reoffend because you’ve done nothing to find these criminals for two years, to be grateful that you held a talk-shop?”

Mulder stepped in, saying that Hill-Lewis’s behaviour resembles that of the previous DA leader, John Steenhuisen.

“First, John Steenhuisen attacked the previous Freedom Front Plus leader, Dr Pieter Mulder, blaming him for Foot and Mouth disease,” Mulder said.

“Now, Geordin Hill-Lewis blames the previous Freedom Front Plus leader, Dr Pieter Groenewald, for parolees who have absconded since 1991.”

Corne Mulder’s message for Geordin Hill-Lewis

Mulder said in an interview with Die Papier that Hill-Lewis’s attack on Groenewald was misguided and uncalled for.

“What he did not say is that these numbers date back to 1991, and more than half of them pertain to the period leading up to 2004,” Mulder said.

“Groenewald has been the Minister of Correctional Services for only two years, and he has already indicated the steps he is taking in the department to address this problem.”

He said that the real question is why this sudden attack from Hill-Lewis. “It must be seen in the correct context,” he said.

“This is not the first sudden attack by the Democratic Alliance on the Freedom Front Plus. It began with the Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen,” he said.

“The reason for this is obvious, and both attacks were supported yesterday on social media by Gareth van Onselen and Ryan Coetzee.”

Ryan Coetzee is a political strategist linked to the DA for many years, and in April this year, he was appointed by Hill-Lewis as the manager of the DA’s ministerial caucus.

“What is happening here is very clear: the Freedom Front Plus is apparently a threat to the Democratic Alliance because the party is doing very well,” he said.

“This is incredibly unfortunate. The Freedom Front Plus is not the opponent. It is not the enemy.”

He said the FF Plus and DA should be fighting and working together against the ANC, which is the real problem in South Africa.

“The ANC has run city councils and municipalities into the ground for more than 30 years,” Mulder said.

“The FF Plus works toward that goal, and we acknowledge the role of the Democratic Alliance as a relevant party that will also play a role.”

“We will have to find each other in coalition governments, likely in most of the metros and many city councils, after the important elections in November.”

Mulder said it was regrettable that the DA was suddenly turning its cannons on the Freedom Front Plus. “We did not ask for this. We are simply doing our work.”

“The other reason, which is very insightful, is that the DA believed they would convince voters to vote for them by showing how well they govern,” he said.

“However, this has not worked out so well in Agriculture, Education, or Home Affairs, and a few other places.”

“Meanwhile, at Correctional Services, the Freedom Front Plus is showing how it should be done.”