ANC’s anti-Western policy does not reflect the sentiments of all South Africans

Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder stated that the ANC cannot speak on behalf of South Africa regarding the events in Venezuela or its foreign policy.

In early 2026, the United States significantly escalated its long-standing pressure campaign against the Venezuelan government through a direct military intervention.

This action followed years of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation aimed at removing the administration of Nicolás Maduro.

On 3 January 2026, the United States launched large-scale military strikes on Caracas and surrounding areas and captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

The African National Congress (ANC) and the South African government have issued a sharp, multi-layered condemnation of the U.S. military action in Venezuela.

Their response focuses on what they describe as a brazen violation of international law and a threat to global stability.

Mulder responded, saying the ANC cannot speak on behalf of South Africa regarding Venezuela.

“The ANC’s ideologically driven anti-Western policy does not reflect the sentiments of all South Africans,” he said.

He said the Freedom Front Plus welcomes the actions of the United States against the “illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela”.

Mulder said the free world has a moral obligation to act against countries with autocratic governments where human rights are trampled.

He added that under Maduro’s leadership in Venezuela, criminality could not be separated from policy.

The Freedom Front Plus leader said Maduro’s government was fundamentally illegitimate and corrupt.

“After losing the 2024 election, he clung to power with the help of his armed forces, Cuban intelligence, and allies such as Russia, Iran, and China,” he said.

Critics were mum when Venezuela became a hub for international crime

The actions by the United States and President Donald Trump are now being condemned from various quarters, especially from South Africa.

However, Cronje asked why these critics remained silent for years while the people of Venezuela suffered under an illegitimate head of state.

He said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been internationally indicted for large-scale drug trafficking through cocaine networks.

They are also linked to arms trafficking with terrorist groups such as the revolutionary FARC in Venezuela, and even links to Hezbollah and Iranian militias.

“His government drove millions of Venezuelans into poverty with hyperinflation, food shortages, and a refugee crisis that uprooted more than 7 million people,” Mulder said.

Human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch cite torture, unlawful executions, and the suppression of opposition as violations under Maduro.

“Maduro was not a legitimate president, but a dictator whose rule was denied by more than 60 countries,” Mulder said.

“He plundered Venezuela’s oil wealth for the benefit of foreign creditors such as China, while immersing the people of Venezuela in poverty.”

He said the US action was not an invasion or regime change, but a targeted intervention based on international indictments against Maduro.

“It was necessary to dismantle a regime that not only terrorised its own people but also posed a threat to the region and the world,” Mulder said.

“National sovereignty cannot be a shield for such atrocities. That would be a licence for tyranny.”

ANC’s criticism of the United States

Mulder said the ANC is now conveniently grasping at international law to act against the United States.

However, the ANC government failed in 2015 to comply with the same international law by executing a court order regarding the arrest of Omar Al Bashir.

The ANC was also silent about Ukraine’s sovereignty when Russia attacked that country in 2022 and occupied large parts of Ukraine’s territory.

Dirco’s request to refer the matter to the United Nations Security Council was not a joint decision of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

It was a unilateral ANC action presented as “South Africa’s” position, which Mulder argues is disingenuous.

The ANC’s Nomvula Mokonyane even dismissed the Freedom Front Plus’s view on the matter, as a government partner, as “poorly informed” and “minimalistic”.

“It is this ideological blindness of the ANC that places it in the company of countries with proven human rights violators,” he said.

The ANC is warm towards Iran, China, North Korea, and terrorist groups such as Hamas, with which the Freedom Front Plus cannot associate itself.

“If no one stands up against countries where clear human rights violations occur, no one can expect to be helped later when they themselves become victims of it,” he said.

“Evil indeed triumphs when good people do nothing to stop it.”