Backlash against DA MP after she said ANC struggle songs in Parliament were 'irritating'
Yet another DA MP has angered social media users, after Belinda Bozzoli tweeted that the ANC's "persistent and relentlessly deafening singing of struggle songs" in Parliament was "really irritating".
Bozzoli - an MP on the higher education portfolio committee - posted the tweet after her party put up a second candidate for the position of Speaker of the National Assembly. A short recess was called so that the voting booths could be erected, and during that time, ANC and EFF MPs broke into song.
Bozzoli went on to state that Parliament "is, and is fully intended to be, a shared place for the exchange of ideas and opinions. In seeking to dominate it they essentially being undemocratic".
The freshly sworn in MP and professor of Sociology continued that this was indicative of a "symbolic" and "non-literate" form of nationalism.
A number of Twitter users, however, were not having it.
Hylton White responded by saying that "those who wish for a public that is silent might want to live elsewhere".
Sisonke Msimang, author of The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela , said "this song belongs to all South Africans - black and white".
Annelize Van Wyk, former chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, voiced her shock at the statement and called on the DA to formulate a social media policy.
Mteto Nyati, CEO of the Altron Group, suggested Bozzoli engage in self-examination.
This is the latest in a recent round of controversial public utterances made by DA members. Former Western Cape premier Helen Zille once again courted controversy after a tweet about 'black privilege'.
DA MP Ghaleb Cachalia claimed that radio personality Eusebius McKaiser had unsuccessfuly applied to be a DA MP and then added: "Nothing quite like a woman scorned..."
Many Twitter users criticised Cachalia for the "homophobic, misogynistic" comment.
DA MP Dr Michael Cardo, meanwhile, responded to someone who criticised a tweet of his by referring to Pieter Howes, who recently committed suicide after a battle with depression.
"Hell's bells, it’s like Pieter Howes has been reincarnated with Tourette’s syndrome," Cardo tweeted.
Many Twitter users deemed this insensitive and offensive.
News24 previously reported that DA leader Mmusi Maimane said that public discussions on controversial topics on social media had to stop. He added that Zille would be referred to the party's Federal Executive Council about her controversial "black privilege" tweet. Cardo and Cachalia would also be subjected to internal processes after controversial tweets.
"It's going to stop. We must focus now. We've got a lot work to do," said Maimane.
