Political debate ‘polarised’

CRITICS: TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER TO OFFER REFUGEE STATUS TO AFRIKANERS STIRS THE POT

- Marizka Coetzer

US President Donald Trump administration has stirred up a hornet's nest and polarised the political debate in South Africa overnight. This is the view of political analyst Daniel Silke.

“It’s a polarisation we certainly needed in SA but it can also destabilise the country in terms of the ability of those who are critiquing the ANC being much more vocal now because they think they have Trump’s backing. ‘If Trump could say this, so could we, as Trump’s got our back’,” he said.

Silke said it also resurrected old and current resentments and highlights how close some of these resentments were to the surface for radical black and more conservative white groups.

“That’s obviously not good for a country that should be building something that we have lost our way with. It puts SA in very awkward positions and the ANC in an awkward position because they will have to decide whether they will try to placate Trump or are they going to double down and hold firm with the Bela Act, Expropriation Act and the rest of it,” he said.