Joint statement of SASCO PEC and COSAS PEC on the reckless utterances of one person called Helen Zille

22 March 2012

The progressive student movement notes with dismay and utter disgust the bile that was spat by the leader of the Democratic Alliance, Hellen Zille as she referred to people of the Eastern Cape studying in Western Cape Schools as refugees and migrants. We believe that this statement is nothing but an expression of apartheid laws inclusive of and not limited to the notorious Group areas act and Pass laws.

To allege that students from the Eastern Cape Province are refugees in their country is tantamount to bringing back apartheid through the backdoor. We believe that we ought to remind the madam that the Western Cape economy was build not only with the sweat but also with the blood of the people of non metropolitan economies in particular the Eastern Cape.      

We have been noting the attempt to create a white ‘enclave' in the Western Cape, led by the white conservative sections of society, with their mouth piece as the DA.  We must warn Zille that we will not allow the creation of Orania or a dignified Bantustan for White conservatives and liberals under our watch.

The problem with Helen Zille is that she still wants to behave as a White "Madam" in a Post-Apartheid South Africa and as such behaving as a menace in our society. We must remind this menace to our society that in South Africa we have a democratic constitution and a Bill of Rights which guarantees the right to movement. It is very disturbing that as we celebrate Human Rights Day and the month, where many died fighting for these basic rights, Zille conveniently saw this day as a correct day to utter these venomous comments.

For that matter Western Cape is not the only province that attract students from largely rural provinces, Gauteng is among those and this is as a result of Apartheid spatial development which Madam Zille has decided to protect. The DA must simply provide sufficient services for schools and stop using baseless arguments to mask their not so impressive track record.

Statement issued by Ngoako Selamolela, SASCO President and Bongani Mani, COSAS President, March 22 2012

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