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Cape Town – The ANC has called on South Africans to “embrace democratic principles” and declare war on racism and individuals who support it. “The African National Congress calls on all South Africans to declare war on racism and for political parties to refrain from undermining democracy through calls that undermine a democratic outcome,” spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said in a statement on Sunday.
“The uninformed call that President Zuma must fall are (sic) a ploy to divert a real conversation on racism that finds expression in the comments of a minority belonging to a particular party that is intent of achieving the impossible return to a racist past.”
Kodwa made the statement in reaction to the “Zuma Must Fall” banner erected in Cape Town on Friday. The City of Cape Town said on Friday that it knew who had put the sign up, and would prosecute him for failure to comply with the Outdoor Advertising and Signage by-law.
Kodwa said South Africans should embrace their diversity and rally against the “scourge of racism”.
“It’s evident that this campaign which is privately sponsored by particular formations can only polarise society resulting in strained relations amongst our people. Let’s in our diversity embrace democratic principles and practices. Our failure to rise to the occasion will result in history judging some amongst us harshly.”
ANC supporters removed the Zuma Must Fall poster in the Cape Town CBD on Saturday.
The party’s Cape Metro spokesperson Khaya Yozi said it was mission accomplished.
“The message we want to send out there is that the racism that is down here in Cape Town isn’t acceptable.”
ANC MP Bongani Mkongi meanwhile landed himself in hot water for calling for the banner and the building to be burnt down.
“Join the ANC in Cape Town today at 14:00 to burn down the billboard saying ‘ZumaMustFall’,” he said on Facebook. “The billboard must not be lifted down, but burnt down.”
One person commented: “We can’t burn it down as it is pasted against an apartment block, people inside the apartment will burn to death. We can remove it though.”
Mkongi responded with: “They must burn to death as it is life for them to keep it that way.”
The ANC MP apologised for his “offensive and provocative” comments after the ANC took him to task.
On Saturday, the Democratic Alliance said it would take Mkongi to Parliament’s ethics committee over the remarks.
Meanwhile, children should be taught from a young age to be against racism, the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Sihle Zikalala said on Sunday.
“South Africans should be taught at young stage to despise racism. To achieve this, the department of education should ensure that life orientation currently taught in our schools has extensive content that deals with social cohesion and racism,” Zikalala said.
“The department of education must engage with private schools to adopt life orientation, private schools can’t be left as platform to sustain divisive tendencies of the past,” he added.
Zikalala was speaking at the KwaZulu-Natal celebrations of the ruling party’s 104 anniversary held in Greyton on Sunday. He called on churches, traditional leaders, business and labour to also play a meaningful role in promoting non-racialism.
“As we deal with racism, we should always bear in mind that our own Freedom Charter decreed that ‘South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white’. A non-racial South Africa means a South Africa in which all the artificial obstructions and assumptions that keep people apart are removed,” he said.
In recent weeks, the country has seen several high profile people engaged in racial spats, particularly on social networking sites.
This includes TV personality Jo-Ann Strauss, eNCA news anchor Andrew Barnes, economist Chris Hart and radio personality, Gareth Cliff.
The wide debate on racism started earlier after KwaZulu-Natal realtor, Penny Sparrow took to Facebook to describe black beachgoers as “monkeys” in an apparent reaction to litter left behind after New Year’s celebrations in Margate.
There was a mass reaction to her statement across social media platforms, as well as from political quarters.
The estate agent later deleted her post and apologised, saying she did “not mean it personally”. – Sapa
Online Reporter