OPINION - I AM dismayed by the objections raised by DA ward councillor Martin Meyer and the residents in his ward, who are mostly white, against Gold Circle hosting social events at Greyville Racecourse.
Race meetings at Greyville, held both during the day and at night, have been supported over the years by thousands of punters.
During the winter racing season, popular race meetings like the Daily News 2000, the Mercury Sprint, Post Golden Slippers, the Gold Cup and other races attract large crowds. Every year the Durban July Handicap draws over 50 000 racegoers from all over the country and from overseas.
Yet there are no complaints from residents about traffic congestion and boisterous behaviour then.
Now that Gold Circle is also hosting social events at Greyville, such as weddings, concerts and trade fairs, which are mostly attended by Indians, residents are upset and complaining that these events cause rowdiness and heavy traffic volumes in the area. The demographics of eThekwini indicate that there is a large Indian population, who have to use public facilities in the Durban Central area.
Indian religious and cultural events rarely go on later than 11pm and seldom, if ever, involve rowdy and raucous behaviour.
The Indian community, especially in KwaZulu-Natal - believing that the DA would be their saviour - lent their proxy to the party in the 2016 local government elections in large numbers.
The Indian electorate now needs to seriously reconsider its support for the party because it seems obvious that the DA is a party for the protection of white interests and they are only using Indians as voting fodder.