POLITICS

BLF reported to SAHRC for gloating over Hoërskool Driehoek deaths - Luyolo Mphithi

DA Youth Leader says that organisation trying to divide us on basis of race

DA Youth Reports BLF to the SAHRC over #HoërskoolDriehoek

As the country mourns the loss of 3 lives of learners who tragically died at Hoërskool Driehoek, the BLF has spread some of the most vile sentiments. 

BLF spokesperson, Lindsay Maasdorp, tweeted that the death of these young children should be celebrated as it showed that ‘God is listening’. This is appalling. The only reasons BLF would react like this is because they seek to divide us on the basis of race and would use a tragic incident that has claimed the lives of children and injured many to spread their racial hatred which has gone unchecked for far too long. 

This is why the DA will be writing to the SAHRC so that they can investigate this matter. We will request that this matter be expedited so that we can use the SAHRC report as the basis of our case to the IEC to have the BLF barred from running in this election campaign. 

South Africa has been through some of the darkest moments in our history, we cannot let Andile Mngxitama and his lieutenants run around sowing racial division and inciting violence.

The DA’s vision of building One South Africa for All requires that we act against all forms of extremism from both sides of the political spectrum. We will not sit idly while racists claim their space in the public discourse. This is poisonous and dangerous. The SAHRC and the IEC must act swiftly against the BLF.

Statement issued by Luyolo Mphithi, DA Youth Leader, 2 February 2019

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“If our God has finally intervened and our ancestors have petitioned and seen that these white land thieves have now died then I definitely celebrate it. I celebrate the death of our enemies, their children, their cats and their dogs. That is our position.” - Leslie Maasdorp as quoted in the Citizen online. 

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Update:

DA launches petition to stop BLF form contesting elections

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today launched a petition to prevent Andile Mngxitama’s BLF from contesting the 2019 General Elections.

The BLF has shown itself it to be a cabal of unrepentant racists whose mission is to divide South Africans along racial lines and to undermine the constitutional value which states the “South Africa belongs to all who live in it.”

We, therefore, call upon the people of South Africa whose interest is in building One South Africa for All to lend their support to this petition.

The IEC also has an important role to play in this regard; it cannot in good conscience accept that a party, which marvels at the death of three young learners at Hoërskool Driehoek, is placed on the ballot paper and given the opportunity to contest in order to peddle hate along racial lines in parliament or the country’s nine provincial legislatures.

Further to this, we have reported the BLF to the SA Human Rights Commission. We will request that this matter be expedited so that we can use the SAHRC report as the basis of our case to the IEC to have the BLF barred from running in this election campaign.

It is important that all South Africans stand up against the politics of division, regardless of who peddles up it, and stand together in order to build One South Africa for All.

The DA will never abandon the project of reconciliation. “Unity in diversity”, should not just be words, it is a call to action that we should all take up.

Statement issued by Luyolo Mphithi, DA Youth Leader, 3 February 2019