ANC CONDEMNS DA'S LATEST ATTEMPT AT RACIAL DIVISION

3 MAY 2014

The ANC condemns the DA's gutter politics as evidenced by their latest attempt at racial division. The DA is circulating an SMS saying that the ANC has told Indians to go back to India. The ANC has never said any such thing. This is a wild distortion of the furore around comments one comrade, Visvin Reddy made in his personal capacity, and which he clearly indicated were not the views of the ANC. The Provincial Secretary of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal Comrade Sihle Zikalala called Comrade Visvin Reddy to order and distanced the ANC from such a statement which is fundamentally and diametrically an antithesis to the ANC's historic mission to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.

All South Africans will know that the ANC is committed to non-racialism, and has been since the Freedom Charter stated clearly that "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white". It is this seminal document of the ANC which informed our Constitution, which commits us all to non-racialism, a fact the DA would do well to remember. Indians, like all South Africans, are valued citizens of our country and many South Africans of Indian descent are leaders and members of the ANC and society. We are proud of history that black people, including our Indian compratiots, have shared in the trenches and during our democracy, working together to create a better life for all.

Once again we are provided with yet more evidence of the DA's desperate attempt to sway the outcome of the election through deceit and falsehoods. This latest act of racist and bigoted loose cannons is an example of the DA's racist internal logic, and utter disrespect for black people in this country, including Indians. Divide and rule tactics has been a primary tool of white supremacy from the earliest days of colonialism, through the Apartheid period, and sadly still today. Rather than make its own case about what it has to offer to the people of South Africa, the DA betrays the face behind the mask by attempting to stoke racial fears to divide South African communities from one another on the eve of an election. Stoking racial antagonism for political gain? Indeed South Africans should know their DA. 

The African National Congress will consult with our legal team as we are convinced that this latest SMS is a contravention of the Electoral Act which prohibits the distribution of false information to influence the outcome of any election.

Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, ANC national spokesperson, May 3 2014

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter