Cape Town - No matter the grandstanding, the pledges, or the appointment of a black leader, the Democratic Alliance (DA) would remain the political home of racists.
This was the message of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) who on Wednesday responded to DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s landmark – as his party has billed it – speech on race and identity.
“If you’re a racist and you are thinking of voting for the DA, please don’t. We are not the party for you,” said Maimane, speaking from the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.
It was a speech which set social media abuzz under the hashtag #MmusiOnRace and had political commentators’ tongues wagging.
For the ANCYL, however, it was “low on content”, “high on grandstanding”, and an overall spectacle.
“Racism is ingrained in the political DNA of the DA,” said ANCYL spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize. “The cosmetic surgery of a black ‘leader’ and a so-called anti-racist pledge will never remove it.”
Mkhize said seeing Maimane deliver his speech at the Apartheid Museum – which he called an abuse of the holy ground by the DA leader – exposed the emptiness of Helen Zille’s successor. He said in comparison to anti-apartheid icons such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Ahmed Kathrada, Maimane’s address was simply “puffed up empty oratory and gestures”.
“The contrast between real content and true greatness, and empty fronting could not have been more pronounced,” said Mkhize.
He said Maimane was once an ANC member who allegedly chose to leave the party to pursue his “unbridled ambition to become a so-called leader”. Having betrayed his people, Mkhize said, Maimane now answered to white puppet masters and madams such as Zille, Athol Trollip, and James Selfe.
He added that Maimane’s remarks on racism coming from all quarters – not only white South Africans – was in poor taste and did not acknowledge the reality in South Africa.
“Ours is a reality of overwhelmingly white racism, black exploitation, and racist victimhood.”
Mkhize said that instead of the DA’s anti-racism pledge, South Africans should “hunt” and “expunge” racists, and – in line with the mother ANC’s take on the issue – criminalise their discriminatory remarks.
“The ANC knows, given enough rope, the DA will hang itself and their fronting black leader on their gallows of racist shame,” said Mkhize. “When that happens, we will be there to tell him, ‘We told you so!’.”
The spokesperson for the DA leader responded to Mkhize’s comments saying the Youth League were, through its insults, seeking political relevance and currency.
“It is clear that the ANC and its affiliates, in particular the ANCYL, are intimidated by the leadership of Mr Maimane and his programme of action, which seeks to find solutions to rooting out racism in South Africa,” said Mabine Seabe.
Seabe said that unlike the ANCYL, the DA was working hard to build a better South Africa and that they would not be “derailed by a directionless ANCYL” who had nothing but insults in their arsenal.
“The DA will continue to preach and practice reconciliation and bringing racism to an end, while others continue their programme of dividing South Africans,” said Seabe.
African News Agency