DA demands public apology following KZN Premier’s anti-Indian comments
Note to Editors: You can access Premier Willies Mchunu's anti-Indian comments here.
The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal calls for a public apology by KZN Premier, Willies Mchunu, following his anti-Indian comments in the provincial Legislature earlier today.
The Premier’s remarks were made during a debate on Heritage Day Celebrations. This was after the DA had made a call asking him to protect the heritage of the province’s subsistence fishermen and the seine netting community. We had requested that he support a review of the laws and regulations around these practices.
Premier Mchunu responded by saying: “The Indians are not part of South Africa”.
The Premier’s office is supposed to champions social cohesion in the priovince. This is why the budget for social cohesion programs is manged and facilitated through this office. The utterances from the Premier are thus borderline hypocritical and are an contrast to the society we all envison.
The DA regards this as an insult to the very community that stood arm-in-arm in the fight against the then apartheid government and who suffered enormously as a result of the Group Areas Act and other measures which saw their livelihood as subsistence fisherman continually under threat.
Post-1994 KZN’s subsistence fishing community approached South Africa’s new democratic government to deal with the issues of redress. Sadly their situation has only worsened as commercial Japanese and Chinese fishing trawlers operate along our coastline with absolute impunity. This is yet another slap in the face of the Indian community.
The Premier’s utterances show that he does not believe in social cohesion and diversity. They also display his utter disdain for minority communities.
The DA expects the Premier to do what is right. He must issue an immediate public apology to the Indian community. In the event that he fails to do so, the DA will follow the requisite channels to bring the premier to book. South Africa is riddled with racism on a daily basis and one does not expect senior and seasoned politicians like Premier Mchunu to sew division in a country we all call home.
People of KwaZulu-Natal must stand together and rise above the dynamics and injustices of our past. It’s this past that should make us more united and stronger not divide us further.
United in our diversity, we can indeed build a KwaZulu-Natal for all.
Statement issued by Zwakele Mncwango MPL, Leader of DA in the KZN Legislature, 30 September 2018
