ANC NYTT disgusted by racist and malicious attacks leveled against Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
30 May 2020
The ANCYL is utterly disgusted, dumbfounded and annoyed at the racist depictions by one Danie Herselman. The racist used the social media platform Facebook to depict our leader Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as an ape. This absurd depiction is known historically as part of the colonial and white supremacy view on Africans in general and blacks in particular.
We note that the ANC and ANCYL provincial structures have already taken actions such as opening a case with the police. We appreciate this swift action by our structures to fight the ugly demon of racism in our country. The NYTT will on Monday together with the provincial leadership approach the equality court as we believe this racist must be meted with justice in all possible fronts.
We remain totally opposed to racism and its manifestations, we will fight it with sheer vigour and every available fiber and possible human capabilities. We call upon society to report many of such racist acts and rants on social media and elsewhere in our country. We must totally eradicate this inhuman criminal act, at least our judicial system has already set some positive legal precedence with the Vicki Momberg judgement.
Furthermore, we are disturbed by the consistent and targeted attacks launched by certain individuals and media houses against the Minster of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Cde Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The ANC NYTT is concerned by fake news articles based on "leaks" from NCC meetings that have been published by certain mainstream media houses driving a nefarious agenda against the Minister of COGTA.
There has been a deliberate attempt to attribute certain decisions agreed upon by the NCC to Dr Dlamini-Zuma with the sole purpose of exposing her to the ire of citizens. The ANC NYTT believes it is important that media outlets are reminded of their code of conduct and social responsibility to provide citizens with credible information based on facts rather than rumors peddled by faceless informants. The unfortunate byproducts of fake or biased reporting are that it creates misdirected anger and frustration amongst citizens which often ends in unsavory comments and behavior.
Government leaders have a responsibility to make decisions that will protect the interests and safety of their citizens during a crisis. The decisions made by National Command Council are based on sound research and are executed with the intention of saving lives. Citizens are provided with official platforms to engage government, and we encourage the usage of these platforms to express their frustrations and concerns. The bill of rights affords every citizen freedom of expression this right however must be exercised with restraint noting the rights other individuals and the various socially acceptable behaviors.
We applaud the ANC in Western Cape for opening against the Racist Danie Herselman. We will be monitoring the case closely to ensure that justice is served and Herselman is brought to book.
Issued by Sizophila Mkhize, Spokesperson, ANCYL NYTT, 30 May 2020
