DA lays criminal charges against EFF’s Ndlozi for incitement to arson

22 October 2020

Note to Editors: Please find the attached soundbite, and video by Natasha Mazzone MP, Chief Whip of the Official Opposition.  A Pictures can be found here and here

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today laid criminal charges against the EFF Member of Parliament, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, for incitement to arson following a song he sang in Senekal translating to “call the fire brigade, burn these Boers”.

These utterances are not only incredibly hateful, but is a call to incite arson, violence and anarchy by Ndlozi and his fellow EFF quasi-revolutionaries.

The DA strongly condemns Ndlozi’s utterances. Not only are they indicative of his vile disregard for the safety of rural communities and their lives, it is also indicative of him and his party’s complete disregard for democracy, the rule of law and private property rights.

Thousands of hectares of land have been on fire and destroyed in the Free State, and while the cause of these fires are still unknown, we do know that a politician sang songs calling “the fire brigade” to  “burn these Boers” and that this was followed by large scale destruction.

The EFF are known instigators of violence and destruction who would rather see South Africa burn in pursuit of their narrow political interests. The DA will not stand by and watch how fascist and racist bullies such as the EFF disregard the laws that govern our country. Unlike the EFF, the DA is a party of rules, laws, constitutionalism and democracy.

It is for this reason that we have not only laid criminal charges against Ndlozi, but we have also laid an ethics complaint with Parliament’s Ethics Committee. We have also referred his utterances to the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate the words within these songs and declare them as hate speech.

It is time that Parliament, Chapter 9 institutions and law enforcement agencies show their teeth and take actions against the hooliganism and violence demonstrated by the EFF. These institutions should be at the forefront of investigating and protecting our democracy, they simply cannot cower in the shadows.

While the EFF tries to pull the country into further chaos through race baiting vitriol, the DA will hold our ground as the rational and peace-loving centre that will continue to fight for the strengthening of our democracy.

Issued byNatasha Mazzone,Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, 22 October 2020