The South African Communist Party wants DA leader John Steenhuisen to be censured over his comments labelling Gauteng government’s crime prevention wardens as “drunkards” who were picked up from shebeens.
The party’s provincial chapter held a protest at the Constitution Hill in Johannesburg on Wednesday demanding that parliament and the South African Human Rights Commission take action against the opposition leader.
SACP Gauteng provincial secretary Jacob Mamabolo said at the very least, the DA should have reprimanded its leader or distanced itself from his remarks.
“What kind of person pulls a drunkard out of a shebeen, gives him a uniform and a weapon, and then unleashes them on to a community?,” said Steenhuisen while addressing a rally in Soshanguve.
Mamabolo said the DA’s silence confirmed that the comments were in keeping with the party’s character.
“The DA’s posture, particularly these remarks and not even distancing themselves, not condemning their leader shows beyond any doubt that here, we are actually dealing with a version of the national party, right-wing, reactionary conservative party of the past. So that’s what we are saying, the DA remains that and you can clearly see, they don’t even feel anything about the racist remarks made by their members,” said Mamabolo.
Speaker of the Gauteng Legislature Ntombi Mekgwe received a memorandum from the party and promised to escalate it to parliament while the Provincial Manager of the South African Human Rights Commission Zamantungwa Mbeki also received one. Both promised to give feedback in two weeks’ time as demanded by the SACP.
The DA could not be reached for comment with national spokesperson Solly Malatsi’s phone going straight to voicemail.