EFF’s senseless motion promotes racial polarisation
19 October 2019
The EFF is allegedly going to table a motion during the upcoming Legislature session on the 22nd of October 2019 to have all so-called colonial symbols removed from the Free State province.
This attack on Afrikaner history opposes nation building and instead promotes racial polarisation. The history of all racial groups must be respected.
The motion states, among other things, that black people have no statues of their heroes in the Free State and that only white heroes are honoured with statues in the Free State.
The EFF is demanding that historical symbols, like the ones in the fourth council chamber, as well as the statue of General Christiaan de Wet must be removed. The EFF argues in its motion that the removal of these symbols will contribute to the eradication of colonialism.
General De Wet, however, himself fought against colonialism and was not in any way involved in Apartheid.
The FF Plus is in favour of an inclusive heritage site where one group's history is not taken away, but rather where other cultural groups' historical symbols are added. We cannot rewrite or change the past, instead, we should respect and honour all cultural groups' history and learn from past mistakes.
While the people in the Free State are starving and are burdened with extremely poor service delivery, the EFF is prioritising symbols. This is clearly indicative of the EFF's short-sighted populism.
The EFF has not yet learned that a country is not uplifted by breaking down sections of society. As long as this is the EFF's premise, poverty and inequality will continue to exist in South Africa.
The FF Plus will oppose this motion. The FF Plus is fighting for a better dispensation that learns valuable lessons from the past and that is focused on the future.
Issued by Jan van Niekerk, FF Plus provincial leader: Free State, 20 October 2019
