The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the ANC strongly condemned the racist attacks on Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Dlamini-Zuma has been in the running for some time, especially regarding the continued ban on the sale of tobacco products at levels 4 and 3 of the isolation regulations.
A noise has now also erupted after Danie Herselman posted a derogatory photo of Dlamini-Zuma on Facebook in response to another social media user’s entry. In the post, Herselman compares Dlamini-Zuma to an animal.
“The placement is humiliating, derogatory and racist. It is inconceivable that a rational person can write and post something in the public domain without thinking about the consequences and the damage it will do to the minister and her family, ”said committee chairman Faith Muthambi.
We have received a formal complaint from the SACC. https://t.co/rBkPA5Rqhx
— Buang Jones (@BuangJones) May 30, 2020
Muthambi says the committee hopes Herselman will be put to the test. “Racism must stop. We cannot allow such abuses to occur. “
She says South Africans have the right to freedom of speech to say or write whatever they want. But that right may not violate anyone else’s rights or violate any law. The committee also pledged its support to Dlamini-Zuma and asked the police and the Human Rights Commission to investigate the incident.
The ANC caucus also demanded that unsolicited and racist attacks on Dlamini-Zuma be stopped. The ANC claims there is an orchestrated campaign in the media and on social media to undermine the work Dlamini-Zuma is doing.
ANC chief Pemmy Majodina says similar attacks were put on hold against Dlamini-Zuma in her former office as health minister when his tobacco groups and pharmaceutical companies fought the battle while the health sector was “radicalized”.
Majodina says it was thanks to Dlamini-Zuma’s work that South Africa is now in a better position to deal with the Covid 19 pandemic.
The ANC also asked that the incident be investigated in terms of hate speech and racism legislation.
“We are not going to leave any stone unturned to ensure those like Danie Herselman and his insane type bear the consequences of their evil deeds.”
Also on social media platforms, many users have asked that Herselman be prosecuted criminally.
The HRC confirmed that it had received a formal complaint about the incident from the South African Council of Churches.
Herselman’s profile is no longer on Facebook, although screenshots of the post are already widespread.
