The ANC may soon be visiting the South African Human Rights Commission to lay a complaint against the DA. The ruling party says the DA mistreated the ANC in the run-up to the party’s 103rd birthday celebration at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.
“Everything undemocratic was done in the Western Cape, meant to keep all darkies out of Cape Town and keep Cape Town uncontaminated,†said ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa.
RA’EESA PATHER asked Capetonians what they thought.
Kent Snell, 26, window dresser, Mitchell’s Plain
I think the ANC is just using people, so they can get a piece of the pie. The DA isn’t racist. Everybody says the Western Cape is racist, but I really don’t see it. We work all around the Western Cape, with all kinds of people and have never experienced any kind of racism. I don’t think it’s true that the DA’s trying to “keep the darkies outâ€. I live in Mitchell’s Plain and they [black people] come there all the time. It’s not that we don’t want them to be there– they have a specific area where they stay. They’re coming into our areas now, and they’re robbing people. I won’t say it’s a race thing – I think it’s just their type of living.
Marc Douglas, 29, window-display manager, Burgundy Estate
When the ANC makes comments like that, it actually shows that they are racist. If they’re going to make it about race then they are just as racist as anybody who makes such comments. I wouldn’t say the Western Cape is racist – we are so multicultural. I hang out with Kent (Snell) every day for work. If you look around, it’s a whole mix of cultures. No-one’s shouting racist comments.
Farieda Roopran, 50, retail worker, Mitchell’s Plain
It’s not the right statement to say the DA don’t want darkies in Cape Town. Everyone has a perception that the people from the rural areas are coming here to take their jobs. But it’s not actually like that – there’s a mixture of people in Cape Town. I think the person who says that another person is racist, is actually the one who is really racist. Sometimes you don’t even think about being racist, and then the next person will tell you you’re racist. We can all air our views and say how we feel, but that doesn’t mean that we’re racist.
Simbongile Mpakadi, 24, trolley collector, Crossroads
The DA sometimes does things for coloured people that they don’t do for black people. Like the RDP houses, they give them to coloured people, but they don’t care for black people. So, I can understand the ANC. Cape Town is racist, because there are a lot of places full of white people and coloured people, and black people don’t feel welcome. The ANC should go to the SAHRC for all the people.
Jack Makowerie, 31, informal trader, Claremont
The ANC have to do what is right for people and what people need. They mustn’t be egocentric and do things that just benefit themselves. Cape Town’s not racist, because I’ve never had that experience. But I [only] came here in 2007 – I’m from Zimbabwe. If it is racist, then it needs to stop. All South Africans come from the same soil. If you hurt each other, it will open a door to bad stuff from anywhere, from other nations and nationalities who are living here in South Africa. Racism is really bad, so people mustn’t do that.
– Featured image via Wikimedia Commons
