COPE WELCOMES DA’S DECISION TO TERMINATE MEMBERSHIP OF DIANNE KOHLER BARNARD

COPE agrees fully with the decision of The Democratic Alliance to terminate Dianne Kohler Barnard's party membership. The damage she had caused to her party was just too immense to ignore or treat lightly.

Those who unsparingly wield the sword on others when they act out of turn must fall on their sword when they do the same.

In today’s world, social media is an extremely powerful tool to influence public opinion. It is, however, a double-edged sword. Used correctly, it allows public representatives to connect with and to interact with the public and thereby build support. Political parties understand this and therefore have to ensure that their public representatives adhere to their social media policy very strictly. Failure to do so has to be fatal for anyone who transgresses that policy because there is instantaneous fallout when things go wrong.

Our country buried apartheid twenty one years ago. We certainly cannot allow its ghost to inhabit the present or the future. Those who yearn for the old order have no place in our society and least of all in the political sphere.

What Kohler Barnard did was too serious to excuse with an apology or a slap on the wrist. The DA has tried vainly to shake off the accusation that it harbours old style racists and that its black veneer was only a sop to post-apartheid society. What Kohler Barnard did reinforced that notion.

Whether it was utter stupidity or hidden racism on her part does not matter one iota. Those who wish to lead our society in a new direction must remain totally free of any racist taint or contamination.

COPE welcomes the decision of the DA to terminate her membership. Kohler Barnard’s fall from grace and influence must serve as a severe warning to all others.

South Africa is committed to slaying the demon of racism, not resurrecting it.

Issued by Dennis Bloem, COPE Spokesperson, 1 November 2015