Carlo Petersen
DA NATIONAL spokesperson Marius Redelinghuys could be in hot water following comments he made to UCT student Zizipho Pae on Facebook.
Pae has been ousted from her position as vice-president of the UCT SRC in an “irregular” meeting following her Facebook post: “We are institutionalising and normalising sin! Sin. May God have mercy on us.”
Pae admitted that she had reacted to the US Supreme Court sanctioning same-sex marriages.
The statement sparked a massive outcry from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, agender and queer and others (LGBTIAQ+) community, including Redelinghuys, who made various comments on Facebook.
The Christian View Network (CVN) now wants the DA to dismiss Redelinghuys for “a long series of mocking, insulting and other pro-homosexual messages which amount to harassment”.
CVN director Philip Rosenthal said he was shocked by Redelinghuys’s statements.
After taking issue with Pae’s statement on Facebook, members of UCT’s LGBTIAQ+ community vandalised her office at the university.
“Marius Redelinghuys adds various insults and threatening messages, and the regret that the vandalism did not have the desired effect. The messages include: ‘Don’t mess with the Pink Mafia’. He also posted: ‘We are lurking in the shadows, you never know who is coming for you’.
“Mr Redelinghuys participates and compounds the criminal harassment of Ms Pae,” Rosenthal said.
According to him, Redelinghuys had a right to express his views, but not in a threatening and harassing manner.
In a letter to chairperson of the DA federal executive James Selfe, Rosenthal writes: “While it unacceptable for any person to engage in such internet harassment, it is doubly disturbing that this person is a national spokesperson for the Democratic Party (sic).
“I would therefore request that the Democratic Alliance expel Mr Redelinghuys from their party and issue a public statement dissociating with his actions.”
Redelinghuys said he had sent Selfe a response to Rosenthal’s requests.
“This is clearly a personal matter driven by Mr Rosenthal. The party is not an arbiter in this matter and it must be resolved between Mr Rosenthal and myself.
“Should Mr Rosenthal proceed with any further action against me, I intend on filing a counter-complaint of harassment, abuse, defamation and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation,” Redelinghuys said.
Meanwhile, Pae has informed UCT that she did not accept the SRC’s decision against her. “I have requested that the decision be reviewed. In the absence of appropriate steps, I shall launch a review application to the High Court.”
The SRC is yet to release a statement related to Pae’s expulsion from the student body.