Pretoria - Richard Botha is unfazed by calls for his expulsion from the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities for allegedly sowing religious intolerance in Valhalla.
This follows a declaration by community activist Yusuf Abramjee that they would be asking the commission to investigate his conduct and expel Botha for alleged discriminatory statements he made regarding the building of the mosque in the suburb.
Botha serves on the commission and lives in Valhalla.
"He can't be a player and a referee at the same time; it's not fair. We want him expelled as he is a disgrace to a commission which is entrusted with ensuring that everyone's religious rights are respected," said Abramjee.
But Botha said he had spoken out in his personal capacity against the lack of consultation with community members when the city of Tshwane gave the land for a mosque.
He said he had been involved as a part of the cultural committee for the area since 2013, long before he was appointed commissioner.
Botha said that on being appointed in 2014, he informed the commission of his involvement and asked to be recused from his capacity as commissioner with regards to that specific matter.
"I disclosed everything to the commission, including that I stayed in Valhalla and that I was on the cultural committee in the area.
"It's not my fault that the complainant (Abramjee) did not do his homework as I have never hidden my work from anyone," he said.
Botha said the only thing he was fighting was for the people of Valhalla to be heard as they were constantly ignored by the petitions committee and the then ward councillor who had stated that the mosque would go ahead no matter what.
"It's the same draconian attitude being applied here (in Valhalla) as that which led to the burning down of 27 schools in Vuwani following lack of consultation during the demarcation," he claimed.
The commissioner rubbished allegations that he likened the mosque to a brothel during a radio interview and said his comments were taken out of context.
"What I said was that, hypothetically speaking, if the government was to decide that prostitution was legal and put a brothel right next to a mosque, the Muslim community was constitutionally allowed to challenge that decision," said Botha.
"I have never made discriminatory comments.
"I'm not against the mosque, but against the lack of proper public participation and consultation regarding the land for the building of the mosque."
Botha said that five months on, he was still waiting to hear from the city about their appeal, even though the response was supposed to come within 90 days.
Abramjee, however, said Botha's denial meant nothing as he did not make a full disclosure from the beginning when he was at the forefront of people against the mosque and made defamatory statements.
"We want him to be expelled and for the commission to do a full investigation.
"We already have 600 signatures on the petition, and the Muslim community is writing its letter as well," he said.
Pretoria News