Kathrada Foundation condemns Kessie Nair’s racist attack on the President
20 September 2018
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation is deeply concerned by a video made by Kessie Nair which went viral yesterday. In the video, Nair unashamedly and repeatedly refers to President Cyril Ramaphosa as a “kaffir President”.
The Foundation’s Executive Director, Neeshan Balton, said, “We condemn this despicable utterance, which is an attack on the dignity of all South Africans, who are represented by the President of the Republic. Furthermore, this case is of particular offence to the Foundation. President Ramaphosa served as the first chairperson of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation Board for his commitment to non-racialism. He served at the specific request of Ahmed Kathrada.
“Irrespective of the grievances that people may have about the country, or any other situation, using racist vitriol, hate speech, or dehumanising any person irrespective of his or her position, is unacceptable and cannot be allowed as a method to draw attention to issues,” Balton said.
“More disturbing, is that Nair’s rant is just one among many recent racist incidents that have taken place in South Africa. It is deeply concerning that racists still feel comfortable demeaning others with hate speech publicly and blatantly without any fear of reprisal. We reiterate that racism is not only unacceptable, it is illegal,” he said.