This time its the executive mayor of the Mangaung Metro (that’s Bloemfontein and surrounding towns in the Free State in case you were wondering – Ed.), Olly Mlamleli (pictured), who has played the race card by suggesting white people are “cheats because they are white”.
It will now the the task of the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) to decide is this constituted hate speech as trade union Solidarity is in the process of laying a complaint against her. At the moment, court papers are also being drawn up to take the matter to the Equality Court.
During a Budget Meeting of the Mangaung Metro Ms Mlamleli said: “White people are white because they are cheats and they are cheats because they are white.”
In response, Connie Mulder, head of the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) said this statement comes as the latest in a whole series of racist statements made by ANC office bearers. “This statement confirms the findings of Solidarity’s research into selective racism which was the focus of a recent campaign, namely that government officials are on a regular basis guilty of racism without fear of the consequences.”
“What makes this particular statement so extremely disconcerting is the fact that in March this year, the very same Ms Mlamleli suspended a Mangaung employee because of racism. In that instance, the municipality dealt with the matter swiftly and firmly suspending the employee, Mr Chris Kruger, because of a racist post on Facebook. Even Free State premier, Ace Magashule, entered the fray, stating that there was no room for racists, neither in the Free State nor in South Africa. We agree wholeheartedly with Premier Magashule and we expect a similar reaction in response to the remarks made by the mayor of the Mangaung Metro Municipality,” Mulder added.
“We can’t sit back and allow divisive anti-white rhetoric, coming from prominent ANC figures in particular, to carry on unabated. All we are asking is that Ms Mlamleli be measured by her own yardstick of racism and that she takes a taste of the medicine she dishes out to other racists. We need leaders who can appease racial emotions rather than incite such emotions. You cannot fight racism by committing it,” Mulder cautioned.
