AfriForum demands that Mbalula dismisses racist spokesperson
The civil rights organisation AfriForum has sent a letter to Fikile Mbalula, Minister of Sport and Recreation, demanding the immediate dismissal of Esethu Hasane, Media and Communication Manager at the Department of Sport and Recreation. This follows a racist statement made by Hasane on both his Facebook and Twitter accounts, which reads:
Only Western Cape still has dry dams. Please God, we have black people there, choose another way of punishing white people.
Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, says that Hasane's statement confirms that anti-white racism is rife in the Department of Sport and Recreation. “Hasane's statement does not come as a surprise, as it has already become evident that Mbalula's pressure on sport federations to implement rigid racial quotas is not a sincere effort to develop athletes from all communities, but rather a racist campaign to reduce the number of white sportsmen and women in teams. By targeting white people, Mbalula is trying to hide his Department and Government’s failure to establish sport in townships and rural schools,” Kriel adds.
According to Kriel, AfriForum further demands that Mbalula and his department publicly denounce Hasane’s racist statement and that they distance themselves from him without delay.
“Only yesterday, Mbalula (rightfully) shared his disgust on his Twitter account – with screenshots – of an estate agent advertising a townhouse for ‘ONLY whites please’. We cannot wait to see whether Hasane’s comment will receive his immediate attention as well,” Kriel says.
AfriForum has set up a webpage where members of the public can demand Hasane's dismissal by adding their name to a letter that will automatically be emailed to Mbalula’s office:
https://www.afriforum.co.za/rassisme-afdanking-brief/
Text of letter:
28 February 2017
Mr F. Mbalula
Minister of Sport and Recreation
Private Bag X 896
PRETORIA
0001
Mr Mbalula
DEMAND FOR THE IMMEDIATE DISMISSAL OF MR ESETHU HASANE
By means of this letter we demand the immediate dismissal of Mr Esethu Hasane, Media and Communication Manager at the Department of Sport and Recreation, for his anti-white racist statement on social media. Mr Hasane made the following comment on both his Twitter and Facebook accounts:
Only Western Cape still has dry dams. Please God, we have black people there, choose another way of punishing white people.
Mr Hasane's statement again confirms that anti-white racism is rife in your department. His statement does not come as a surprise, as it has already become evident that your Department's pressure on sport federations to implement rigid racial quotas is not a sincere effort to develop athletes from all communities, but rather a racist campaign to reduce the number of white sportsmen and women in teams. You are trying to hide your Department and Government’s failure to establish sport in township and rural schools by targeting white people.
Furthermore, we demand that you and your Department publicly denounce Mr Hasane’s racist statement and to distances yourselves therefrom without delay.
Yours sincerely
Kallie Kriel
CEO
AfriForum
ENDS
Statement issued by Kallie Kriel, AfriForum CEO, 28 February 2017
