Racist councillor in Newcastle being protected
9 January 2023
ActionSA has been made aware of a racial incident involving Newcastle’s DA Ward Councillor (Cllr), Ms Connie Hariram, against Ms Thandeka Reed after she had been elected as a Ward Committee Member on 3 February 2022.
However, it is unclear at this stage whether Ms Hariram’s party and the Speaker of Council have instituted investigations into her utterances.
In a voice note that surfaced sent by Ward Cllr Hariram to a WhatsApp group chat after the Ward Committee elections, Ms Hariram who is a South African Indian can be heard questioning why - in a meeting where there were predominantly individuals of Indian origin - was a Black South African voted for to form part of the Ward Committee.
“The first thing is that the lady, Thandeka. She is a black lady. We were all Indians there. Who voted for her? The Indians!” Ms Hariram is heard questioning in her voice note.
As a Party that has positioned itself and its core values where we strive towards and believe in a non-racial society, ActionSA believes that turning a blind eye to this matter would be going against our own philosophies and allowing racially divisive to persist in our society.
To that end, we have written to the Speaker of the Municipality demanding to know why have they failed to take necessary action against the racist Cllr, as we have been informed that this office was made aware of the voice note in September last year, and received a formal complaint from Ms Reed on the 3 October 2022, to which an acknowledgement receipt of the complaint was received in writing by Ms Reed, but the office has since gone silent.
On the 14 October 2022, Ms Reed approached the Equality Court, but has not heard from the organisation since lodging the complaint.
On the 5 December 2022, the DA’s racist Cllr ordered her lawyers to propose a settlement outside of court and were prepared to pay an undisclosed amount to Ms Reed, which she rejected.
She went on to report the matter with the South African Human Rights Commission on the 06 December 2022, however the organisation has been dragging its feet in investigating the matter.
Had this been an ActionSA Cllr, she would have been put on immediate suspension pending investigation into the matter, as we do not take racist remarks lightly.
As a party that is against racial discrimination, ActionSA’s legal team is looking at assisting Ms Reed in taking legal action against the racist Cllr, by ensuring that justice is served, and her Rights that have been publicly violated are protected.
Issued by Zwakele Mncwango, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Chairperson, ActionSA, 9 January 2023
