Durban - The notion that Indian South Africans dominated “every sphere of life” in KwaZulu-Natal, as was reportedly said by EFF leader Julius Malema last week, was complete “nonsense”.
This was the view of civil rights organisation SA Minority Rights Equity Group, reacting to weekend reports.
While questioning Judge Shyam Gyanda in an interview for the vacant KZN High Court deputy judge-president post, Malema reportedly said Indians dominated every sphere of life, “particularly economic and judicial”.
Malema also reportedly asked him: “Do you think that the appointment of a deputy judge-president, if we were to consider an African person, would be in line with the transformation of the judiciary?”
Gyanda responded that an applicant’s race should not be the only criterion for appointment.
A spokesman for the SA Minority Rights Equity Group, Ashin Singh, described the allegations as “nonsense”.
“What nonsense. The Employment Equity Act only allows 2% in every department in the country.
“Indians cannot get more than 2% because merit is not the criteria,” he said.
“There’s no reason to be afraid of Indians.
“Twenty-one years into democracy, most of your private schools are still dominated by white and African children. What is the fear? What is there to fear?”
He called for the Employment Equity Act to be scrapped, saying: “If there wasn’t for this act, maybe we (Indians) would dominate.”
Provincial DA leader Zwakele Mncwango was even more scathing in his criticism of Malema’s comments on Sunday.
He said Malema’s utterances were an attempt to limit Gyanda’s prospects “because he is an Indian candidate”.
Malema “broke his oath to defend the constitution, and instead he trampled on the constitution today”.
“Under apartheid, people were classified and excluded based on race. Malema is attempting to the do the same, and now determining who is ‘African’ and who is not.”
Malema’s thinking and that of the apartheid government were “two sides of the same coin”.
“The Indian citizens of this country are as much equals as any other group, and cannot and must not be denied any right of contribution or participation in our land,” he said.
“The EFF, with Malema as its leader, has repeatedly used the race card as its veiled manifesto to divide a country that has suffered enough from past divisions,” said Mncwango.
“This is nothing but an attempt to further perpetuate unnecessary racial divisions,” he said.
The Mercury