ANC Gauteng province condemns racist attacks aimed at the MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi
26 April 2018
The ANC Gauteng Province condemns in the strongest possible terms acts of cowardice by racists who are determined to undermine efforts to build a non-racial society through the transformation of our basic education system in the Gauteng Province as led by the MEC for Education Comrade Panyaza Lesufi.
It has come to our attention that a group of white people visited the offices of the Basic Education Department in Pretoria yesterday (25 April) where they hanged a life-size doll dressed in an ANC T-shirt with the face of Comrade Panyaza on it, with a message on a placard accusing him of raping Afrikaans.
This brazen act by anti-transformation agents flies in the face of the supremacy of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which advocates for equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms including non-racialism. It follows several threats Comrade Panyaza has been receiving together with his family after the ANC-led government's decision to change the language policy at certain schools in the province from Afrikaans only to parallel medium schools. This is aimed widening access for many scholars whom without this intervention will remain disadvantaged and excluded from accessing their basic right to education.
What is very clear from this latest incident is that the recent judgement meted out to convicted racist, Vicki Momberg, which sets a precedent for other racial related cases, has not had the desired effect as those that are hell-bent on dividing out society along racial lines still feel the need to defend their apartheid racial legacy. This means that the imperative to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices is more urgent than ever before.
We urge Comrade Panyaza and the Gauteng Department of Education and the national Department of Basic Education to open a case with the police to ensure that the law enforcement agencies pursue this matter and bring to book the perpetrators.
Issued by Motalatale Modiba, ANC Gauteng Media Liaison Officer, 26 April 2018
