The politics of racial discord plays a significant role in Cape Town South Africa. Its majority constituent members are coloureds derived from slaves who have traditionally been used as a buffer between European colonists and its vast indigenous black African population, both groups historically disenfranchised and politically impotent. Democracy has invited a new set of problems for these ethnic camps in the quagmire of the post Mandela era. ANC holds Zille responsible for racial hatred March 5, 2014 at 2:09am STATEMENT BY ANC WESTERN CAPE LEADER MARIUS FRANSMAN: Western Cape premier Helen Zille and her government carelessly gamble with the lives of innocent people in the province as racial tensions and hatred are fanned by the DA, says the ANC Western Cape. The ANC is concerned that DA henchmen like Cape Town councillors Grant Pascoe (member of the mayoral committee) and Natalie Bent (ward representative and sub council 23 chairperson) work against the interest of the metropolitan municipality and are seen by many as instigating pressures in various ways to force a crisis ahead of the elections. This has been seen playing out this week in the rising temperature and racial mobilisation between the people of Colorado Park and the informal settlement of Isiqalo off Vanguard Drive at the entrance to Mitchells Plain. It has led to the blocking of one of the Cape main arterials and DA protected squatting. It is seen as a detracting tactic to hide the City’s inability to deliver houses to the poor. ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman says: “It is unacceptable that the DA continues its planned and orchestrated alienation of certain residents in order to advance its political aims by playing the race card and building on its deep-rooted National Party narrative of ‘swartgevaar’ (black threat). We remember how scaring tactics were used like a comic that claimed Africans will chase coloureds into the sea; and it did not happen. The DA continues to pit coloureds against Africans like that. “The DA follows the old master DA plan of Zille who continues to denounce and dehumanise African people as Eastern Cape incomers, refugees and even people who are just a burden taking away resources from locals in order that they cannot access housing, health care or even education! This is a clear and transparent divisive strategy to label Africans as the villains in order for people to vote with the DA against those portrayed as a nuisance.” The ANC calls on all black people – especially those of coloured descent – to unite with all right-thinking Western Cape people against these cheap political exploits aimed at short term DA gains. All should stand up and refuse to be used and abused by the DA in this fashion in a non-racial society where we strive and work for social cohesion. “We are mostly believers and have a duty to live up to the higher ideals of our principles. I call upon clergy like the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba and others to take the lead in these communities to restore sanity. We need sober heads and pure hearts to overcome differences, not to have more conflict or undue strain. We must follow the road the father of our nation and our hero Tata Madiba showed us as set out in the ANC’s policies and principles of reconciliation,” Fransman added. The ANC says together we move the Western Cape and South Africa forward! The DA takes us backwards! 4 March 2014
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 07:51:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015