The EFF and FF Plus in Tshwane are embroiled in a racial row after the red beret’s regional leader Obakeng Ramabodu threatened to draw ‘Afrikaner blood’ during last week’s chaotic council sitting, resulting in him being reported at the Human Rights Commission.
On Sunday, the EFF’s chief caucus whip Godwin Ratikwana said his party has also approached the commission to open a case of intimidation emanating from “racist acts” perpetrated by FF Plus councillor Mark Surgeon.
“This decision comes in the wake of a series of racially charged incidents and persistent systemic racism that continue to plague our city,” he said.
Ratikwana said the recent hostile behaviour exhibited by Surgeon “is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of racism and intimidation perpetuated by certain individuals and groups within Tshwane”.
He said Ramabodu faced direct threats from a group of white reactionaries who expressed their intent to "beat him."
“These threats were met with a metaphorical retort from Ramabodu, which was subsequently misrepresented and sensationalised by biased media outlets and certain political figures,” he said.
Ramabodu claimed he was provoked by some councillors and that his controversial remarks were taken out of context.
During the heated council sitting, he said: “I will be happy to moer a Boer. That will be nice; an Afrikaner blood. I want the blood of an Afrikaner.”
He subsequently apologised after he was asked by council speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana to do so.
FF Plus councillor and MMC Community Safety, Grandi Theunissen, condemned Ramabodu’s comment “with contempt”, saying it amounted to hate speech and ran counter to everything the FF Plus stands for.
“Ramabodu said, among other things, that he wants to assault a boer because he is out for Afrikaner blood. The party has already contacted a legal practitioner regarding further steps, and wants to send a loud and clear message that such conduct will not be tolerated,” he said.
On Monday, Theunissen told the Pretoria News that his party lodged a complaint with the Commission on Friday for an investigation into Ramabodu for making hate speech on a public platform against the Afrikaans-speaking people and violation of their human rights.
“The FF Plus will not tolerate the Afrikaner being humiliated and threatened in this way,” he said.
In addition, he said, the party reported Ramabodu to council’s rules and ethics committee for his “criminal” utterances.
On the action taken by the EFF against the FF Plus councillor, he said: “If you were provoked and then you take a gun and shoot a person then you must face the consequences. If he was provoked it still doesn’t give him the right to call me a useless white madala (old man), stupid and racist. He must face the consequences.”
He said Ramabodu's conduct reeked of hatred based on race and ethnicity, and he should bear the consequences of his unacceptable outburst.
Theunissen said according to Section 16 of the Constitution there are certain restrictions on the right to speak one’s mind with respect to the freedom of expression.
“The right in subsection (1) does not extend to — (a) propaganda for war; (b) incitement of imminent violence; or (c) advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm,” he said.
Ratikwana said: “The selective outrage and condemnation that followed conveniently ignored the initial provocations and the broader context of Ramabodu's statement. We must remember that the DA Mayor Cilliers Brink, has also shown blatant disregard and disrespect for council members by labelling them as drunkards and looters."
He was referring to Brink's public comment likening the ANC in power to “a hard-drinking person in charge of a bottle store” for which he refused to withdraw and apologise in council.
Pretoria News