A judgment against the City of Cape Town over the construction of unenclosed toilets in the Mkhaza informal settlement of the Cape Flats “exposes the racism” of the Democratic Alliance, the ANC said on Friday.
“Not only is this landmark judgment a vindication of the long-held ANC view shared by many people, particularly the poor black working class of the Western Cape, that the DA is a racist political party only committed to protecting the last vestiges and policies of apartheid, but that its building of unenclosed toilets in Makhaza shows total disrespect for black dignity,” ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said.
“Judge Nathan Erasmus should be applauded by all South Africans for exposing the DA's violation of human rights and the need to protect Makhaza residents' Constitutional rights to dignity.”
In a judgment handed down in the Western Cape High Court, Erasmus said an agreement between the city and Makhaza settlement on the Cape Flats for the construction of 1316 unenclosed toilets was unlawful.
He declared the construction of unenclosed toilets a serious violation of the residents' Constitutional right to dignity.
The construction of unenclosed toilets, he said, was inconsistent with the mayor and the city's constitutional duty to provide the poorest of the poor with their basic needs.
“We have all along maintained that the DA, which creates an impression of espousing liberal values, is nothing else but a racist political party merely interested in protecting white privileges and those of the DA elite at the expense of the poor, working class residing in such squalid conditions as seen in Makhaza, Mannenburg, Mitchells Plain, Gugulethu and Nyanga to name a few,” Mthembu said.
“We have always called on DA leader Helen Zille to climb down from her high horse and clean up her backyard in the Western Cape before venturing into unwarranted attacks on the progressive leadership of the ANC, with a track record of building better communities in South Africa.”
Mthembu said as South Africa moved closer to its local government election on May 18, the judgment should serve as a reminder to the electorate “particularly blacks” that all that the DA was interested in was their votes and “not their dignity, welfare and livelihood”.
“It is not, and will never be a political home for black people who include Africans, coloureds and Indians.
“It is not a party to be trusted and be voted into power by our people. Despite its desperation and attempts to confuse blacks of its true identity, the Makhaza judgment remains a chilling reminder showing on whose side Zille and his bunch of racist lackeys are on,” he said. - Sapa