A campaign ad by a South African party showing a burning flag is called treason by the president

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A campaign video for South Africa’s opposition party showing the country’s flag in flames has stoked tensions just weeks ahead of national elections that are seen as the most pivotal since the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation 30 years ago.

The opposition Democratic Alliance says the ad is a symbolic depiction of what it claims will befall the country if the ruling African National Congress, or ANC, forms a coalition with two other parties to remain in power after the May 29 election.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who leads the ANC, has called the ad “despicable” and “treasonous.”

State broadcaster SABC said on Thursday it would not air the video because of an alleged “outcry from South Africans” and that airing it would only be “fueling the outrage.”

Some say the ad accurately portrays the deep problems of the African continent’s most advanced economy.

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