COSATU condemns Adv. Mkhwebane’s attacks on South Africans of Indian descent

3 October 2024

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) condemns the shameful utterances and attacks by Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane on South Africans of Indian descent in a bizarre ranting on X (formerly Twitter).  It is unacceptable for a Member of Parliament (MP) to indulge herself in what amounts to hate speech against any section of South Africa’s population, including compatriots of Indian origin.

Advocate Mkhwebane may not be familiar with the history of South Africa’s liberation struggle, including the fundamental task of building a non-racial society.  She would do well to spend time not only reading the Freedom Charter adopted at the Congress of the People, where not only the African National Congress but also the then South African Indian Congress, Coloured People’s Congress and Congress of Democrats as well as the South African Communist Party and the South African Congress of Trade Unions were signatories.

The clarion call of the Freedom Charter inspired generations to liberate South Africa and achieve the democratic breakthrough of 1994.  Advocate Mkhwebane may be a relative newcomer to South Africa’s struggles, and she has the right to her views, even if they are not based upon common sense. 

She however does not have the right to instigate hate speech on social media.  Parliament, of which she is a Member, passed the Prevention and Combatting of Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Act, precisely to deal with malcontents who have no sense of self introspection or filter.  Whilst it is easy to dismiss rantings on social media, South Africa cannot afford to condone or normalise hate speech.

South Africa is still battling to overcome three and half centuries of the most brutal forms of colonialism, apartheid, racism and discrimination.  Citizens have the right to expect better from our elected public representatives, more so when workers are paying their salaries to hold government accountable, grow the economy and improve the lives of the masses; not to divide society along racial lines.

We hope that the National Prosecuting Authority has had time to familiarise itself with the Prevention and Combating of Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Act, and grasps its responsibilities to charge and prosecute those who fall foul of its progressive provisions.  Equally, Parliament needs to hold its errant MPs accountable.

Our democratic journey is still in its infancy and requires all sober citizens to contribute to its continual nourishment.  We should equally not take this process lightly as the history of not only South Africa but also Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Israel, Palestine, Germany, the United States amongst many others are littered with the bodies of millions of innocent persons butchered upon the alter of hate speech.  This is a history we should not allow to be whitewashed.

Issued by Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 3 October 2024