Cape Town - The DA has condemned the display of white rule symbols and racist slogans at a protest at Paul Kruger’s statue in Pretoria.
DA national spokesman Marius Redelinghuys termed the protesters, who included controversial Afrikaans singers Steve Hofmeyr and Sunette Bridges, a far-right, fringe element, in a statement issued late on Wednesday.
He said their conduct was on a par with that of vandals who had defaced historical monuments in recent days.
“The DA condemns the conduct of protesters... waving placards with racially divisive slogans, the Transvaal Vierkleur flag and demanding that Die Stem be sung,” he said.
“South Africans require a constructive and meaningful debate on our shared history and divided past, not conduct by fringe minority groups that further fuel division, hatred and fear,” Redelinghuys said.
“The reactionary and racially divisive defence of these aspects of our collective national history makes today’s protest from the far-right no better than the actions of those defacing and destroying monuments and statues across the country.”
ANA