Johannesburg - The ANC has distanced itself from a Twitter account calling for the killing of Jews.
The SA Jewish Board of Deputies wrote to the party on asking it to act against hate speech on a Twitter account purporting to represent the ANC Youth League
“Last night, we were appalled to learn that earlier that day, via a Twitter site presumably used by the ANCYL, namely @ANCYLVote2014, a message calling for the killing of Jews was tweeted,” the board’s letter said.
“Two members of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies were direct recipients of this.”
ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said the account was not an official one.
“ANC does not encourage hate speech and we will investigate who created that account. The ANC Youth League cannot express those views” Khoza said.
The board of deputies said in its letter that “the propagation of such appalling hate speech at the apparent behest of the ANCYL is generating such distress amongst our Jewish community, as it surely will also for all those for whom the ANC has always been a standard-bearer for the kind of human rights values and tolerance that are the sine qua non of any healthy, harmonious and democratic society”.
The Twitter account has since been deleted.
The Star