ANCYL to picket outside racist Sodwana Bay Guest House

24 June 2016

Durban – The ANC Youth League in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday said it would not tolerate racial discrimination.

The "young lions" have also said they would stage a picket outside the Sodwana Bay Guest House to force it to accommodate black people.

"The Youth League condemns this policy as racist and believes it stands directly opposed to the basic ethos espoused by the Constitution which promotes racial equality. We call upon the owners of this guest house to reverse this decision or face the full might of the youth of our country," the provincial executive committee said in a statement.

The league was responding to an e-mail sent by Andre Slade to a would-be visitor to his Sodwana Bay Guest House in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

The e-mail, which has gone viral, reads "Hi. We do not accommodate blacks or government officials any longer."

The e-mail was reportedly signed Enki Andre M Slade, with the postscript "Proverbs 29:2". The Bible verse reads: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."

'Conform or close shop'

In an interview with a local radio station, Vuma FM, Slade told presenter Jacinta Ngobese, that black people were categorised as animals in the Bible. He called black people servants and told her that when they stayed at his guest house they brought prostitutes and had sex all night, which made him uncomfortable.

The ANCYL said Slade's guest house must conform to the rules of the country or close shop.

"We will not allow a racist's establishment to exist after more than two decades of democracy in this country. The Youth League will therefore march to stage a picket at the guesthouse in order to force its management to reverse its decision.

"A racist's establishment will not operate in this country."

DA leader in KZN Zwakele Mncwango said the ANCYL was politicising a serious matter.

"I am worried about KZN being a common denominator when it comes to racism. As much as racism is a South African problem, there is always a KZN element."

Call for racism hotline

He said instead of picketing, the ANCYL should be speaking to its mother body to have the business shut down.

"The ANCYL is politicising the cancer of racism, we need to discuss this issue, we need to unite, we need to call religious leaders to deal with this issue. The question is who should deal with it?

"Society must come together, we maintain that that business must close down. It is his private business but they need to be in line with the country, they can't contradict the Constitution.

He said people should speak up about racism.

"Government needs to come up with a platform that is conducive to speak up about racism and be protected. People are afraid to speak up because they will be victimised," said Mncwango.

He said the country needed a government hotline where incidents such as this one can be reported and then investigated.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.