The systemic consequences of apartheid still remain. The ANC has done little to break down this inequality and as the DA we want to break these barriers down.
The leader of the Democratic Alliance Mmusi Maimane is reportedly under attack by senior party members for his public comments about white privilege.
Maimane was reportedly attacked by three of his Parliament colleagues for the comments during a rally in Soshanguve on Freedom Day. He said that “white privilege and black poverty” must be confronted.
News24 reports that the DA’s Deputy Chief Whip Mike Waters, Chief Whip John Steenhuisen and MP Natasha Mazzone allegedly took Maimane on. The three are said to be frightened of alienating white voters ahead of next year’s crucial general election, after which the party wants to take control of Gauteng. Joining in the “attack” was MP Ghaleb Cachalia.
Maimane has come out guns blazing and defended his comments.
“I firmly stand by the comments I made during the party’s Freedom Day celebrations. This is because South Africa remains a deeply unequal society in which black South Africans remain locked out of opportunities, even after 24 years of democracy."
“The systemic consequences of apartheid still remain. The ANC has done little to break down this inequality and as the DA we want to break these barriers down,” Mmusi Maimane said.
Maimane went on to call on white people to say, ‘you are part of the solution and not the problem, so come in and say what contribution you can make to address the problem’. This is clearly not going down too well with white DA supporters who feel threatened by these comments.
“Naturally we said the solution is not that black people are poor because white people are rich, black people are poor because we had a history that divided people, that created an injustice", said defiant Maimane.