Durban - DA leader Mmusi Maimane unleashed a scathing attack on the ruling party, saying South Africa was entangled in racial tensions because the “ANC of President Jacob Zuma” has abandoned Nelson Mandela’s vision of a non-racial country.
The DA faced a barrage of attacks after Penny Sparrow, a member, likened black people to “monkeys” on her Facebook post.
But Maimane believes the ANC is to blame for racial tensions. “The project of non-racism has been leaderless because the ANC has failed to lead it. Our country has lost track of reconciliation because Zuma doesn’t know what to do,” he said.
Maimane said Mandela had dealt with the thorny issue of social intolerance successfully. However, he said racial tension had been rekindled when Mandela left the presidency and ceased playing a role in the ANC.
Zuma was a confused leader who had failed to forge relations between different races, he said. “I’m the only one who is standing up publicly as a leader and saying we condemn these actions and we will take action against people who are racist in the DA.”
Sparrow’s comment comes three months after DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard, who also stirred racial tension on social media, was let off the hook.
Regardless of the controversies that beset the party, Maimane was adamant the DA would do well in the local government elections. “South Africans know that our party stands for non-racism.”
The DA is the only party that can achieve Mandela’s dream, Maimane claimed.
He rejected the claims levelled against his party by the ANC – that it was a party of racists.
Maimane said the DA was the only party prepared to deal with racism while other parties wanted to leave it.
He said South Africans should collectively fight the cancer that was racism, unless they also believed that Mandela was a sell-out.
ANC spokesman, Zizi Kodwa hit back, saying Maimane had been hired to defend racism in the DA. “They wanted to use a black person to defend racism. We give him A on our score card for defending racism. He is doing a great job.”
Kodwa said Maimane hated black people, that was why he was attacking the ANC instead of dealing with the real issue of racism in the DA. “The signs are there that the DA is a nest of racism, and Maimane.”
Attempts to reach Sparrow for comment were unsuccessful.
*The ANC Youth League is organising an anti-racism march on Monday in Park Rynie and Scottburgh where Sparrow lives. The Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, is expected to attend.
The march will start at 10.30am from Mpambinyoni Bridge, below the Blue Marlin Hotel, to the Magistrate’s Court in Scott Street, where a memorandum will be handed to the chief magistrate.
Some business owners in town have planned to close during the march because they fear it may turn violent. One person who is nervous is Sparrow’s former boss at Jawitz Properties, Avanti Low.
“I fear for my life and for my family because people don’t believe me when I tell them Penny doesn’t work for us, she left in November. They call me and send me threatening messages. Someone sent me a message that a bullet was ready for my head. I reported the matter to the police and no arrest has been made so far.
“I am very angry with Penny because she has gone into hiding and I am left on my own to deal with (this) when I have nothing to do with what she said,” said Low.
Director of the Port Shepstone Human Rights Centre, Selvan Chetty, who will be part of the march, is calling on all church leaders to dedicate 5 minutes of prayer time over the next three Sundays to pray for the country.
Sunday Tribune
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