Manyi: DA reveals new racist invective against Indians from Jimmy Manyi

Note to editors: The following statement was distributed at a press conference held earlier this afternoon.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) today calls on President Zuma to dismiss his government spokesperson, Jimmy Manyi.

While Mr Manyi's bigotry towards coloured South Africans has been well-established at this time, the DA today reveals evidence of another racist attack from Mr Manyi, this time against Indian South Africans.

On 20 February last year, a full month before his vile attack on coloureds, Mr Manyi addressed the Durban Chamber of Commerce in his previous capacity as director-general of the Department of Labour on the subject of equity legislation. Mr Manyi took exception to the supposed over-representation of Indians in management positions.

A full recording of his comments is available for download. Transcribed, Mr Manyi said:

"Indians, we should be having only 3% [of positions on management]. They are sitting at 5.9. I call it the power of bargaining. Indians have bargained their way to the top."

While Mr Manyi's audience can be heard to be laughing, this does not disguise the nature of the remarks. They are racist, vile and have no place in a democratic society trying to overcome the painful divisions of the past. It is nothing more than bigotry and prejudice disguised as humour that relies on old racist clichés leftover from the Apartheid era.

This man cannot serve as President Zuma's spokesperson, especially when these comments are read in conjunction with Mr Manyi's later racist assault on coloureds. Disappointingly, President Zuma has chosen to remain silent on this matter thus far.

Indeed, the only high-profile member of the administration who has spoken out against Mr Manyi's racist utterances has been cabinet minister Trevor Manuel. Minister Manuel is right to condemn his own government's spokesperson, Jimmy Manyi, following Mr Manyi's loathsome attempt to use new labour laws as a means of achieving Apartheid-era social engineering.

However, it is insincere for Minister Manuel to fail to acknowledge the role that he, and the rest of his cabinet colleagues, played in this process.

Minister Manuel writes in his open letter today:

"Given the fact that the amendments to the Employment Equity Act were drafted during your tenure, I have a sense that your racism has infiltrated the highest echelons of government."

We agree. But why is it that Mr Manuel, President Zuma, and the rest of the cabinet, signed off on precisely the legislation that they are now calling racist?

This legislation may have been drafted on Mr Manyi's watch, but it was approved by two separate labour ministers, the cabinet and the President. No bills are introduced until there is consensus in cabinet. Cabinet ministers like Mr Manuel cannot eschew their own responsibility here.

Unless it is that Mr Manuel and his colleagues simply had not bothered to read the proposed legislation. If that is the case, then they need to explain why legislation of such importance was treated so blithely.

The fact is President Jacob Zuma has neither censured nor sacked Jimmy Manyi. Nor has President Zuma apologised for introducing these laws in the first place. Nor has President Zuma indicated that the legislation will be rewritten.

What makes the President's reticence even worse, and indeed compromises the entire ANC's credibility concerning its position on Mr Manyi, is the fact that the ANC is completely divided on this matter. Indeed, it is difficult to know where President Zuma himself stands, given that the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) viciously attacked Minister Manuel.

In an official statement released this morning, the ANCYL said:

"The ANC Youth League wonders why Trevor Manuel is doing this because the ANC has spoken and provided guidance on this issue. We now do not know who Trevor Manuel represents, because his remarks falls squarely into the political agenda of right-wing political forces opposed to the African National Congress."

The ANC is clearly split down the middle. As an organisation, it cannot decide whether to condemn racism or not. As a country, all political parties should strongly and unequivocally repudiate Mr Manyi's comments, not engage in petty factional battles.

Statement issued by Dr. Wilmot James MP, DA Federal Chairperson, March 2 2011

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