JOHANNESBURG - The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) on Monday slammed deputy chairperson of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) federal executive, Natasha Mazzone, for her tweet about how her immigrant father worked hard to "build himself up", as yet another attempt to defend white privilege.
Earlier Mazzone tweeted: “My father arrived from Naples in Italy, he was dark, and could not speak English or Afrikaans, but he was a great chef. He built himself up from nothing to make a good life for his family. I HONOUR and thank my father.”
Reacting to the comment, Sanco Spokesperson Jabu Mahlangu said: “What Mazzone is not admitting to is that her migrant father and all other colonisers had the backing of racist apartheid laws as well as the evil system of white supremacy that among others guaranteed whites jobs, higher salaries, protection, better education, land, housing including access to exclusive recreational facilities”.
Mahlangu said these white privileges translated to prosperity and success for beneficiaries of decades of apartheid and now their dependants were boasting that the wealth they inherited was a result of hard work.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane, whose wife Natalie is white, told a rally in Soshanguve on Freedom Day that “white privilege and black poverty” must be confronted.
Reports at the weekend suggested that senior members of the DA were unhappy with the comments.
Mazzone took to twitter to respond to the matter and incurred the wrath of Sanco.
Mahlangu said white members of the DA caucus that were challenging Maimane were simply reminding him that he "is the face of the party and not its leader".