Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Patriotic Alliance (PA) in the Western Cape has been plunged into political instability after the sudden resignation of the party’s deputy provincial leader, Sammy Claassen.
Claassen, who recently laid a criminal charge of assault against another PA member, released a statement on his resignation on Thursday afternoon.
“The last weeks were horrific and eventually led to an attempted assault, threats on my life, and personal insults. This forced me to open up criminal charges, and as such, the case is sub judice,” he said.
Claassen and the other PA member were involved in a brawl after a meeting in Saldanha Bay last week. The PA member has subsequently been suspended.
Claassen said the country still needed PA leader Gayton McKenzie and the party to succeed.
“I want him to succeed too, but unfortunately, I became a target of individuals with close ties to powerful leaders under the president [McKenzie],” he said.
He stressed he was not interested in “dirty politics”.
Claassen joined the PA two months before the local government elections in 2021. McKenzie appointed him to the senior leadership in the Western Cape and Saldanha Bay Municipality.
The recruitment of Claassen helped establish the PA on the West Coast and secured 24 seats in the Western Cape.
In response, McKenzie wrote in a Facebook post that he had received the resignation from Claassen and wished him well.
“I know that you will play a formidable role in your next political home; you truly are a force in Western Cape politics; I will not slander not [sic] insult you because I needed you at a time to help me build this party, and I still feel sad about you going, but I understand totally.”
McKenzie added that Claassen had fulfilled his role as deputy provincial chair of the PA excellently.
“I hope that you guys do well in your new political home because you and I both know that our people in the Western Cape need us all, they don’t need our arguments or us insulting each other but they need us to remove this government that put our people in backyards like dogs.”
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