DA MP in hot water over apartheid post
DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard will be hauled before the DA’s federal legal commission after sharing a Facebook post supportive of apartheid leader PW Botha.
On September 15 she shared a post by journalist Paul Kirk: “And so the new head of the Hawks – found to be without integrity and dishonest by the High Court – has suspended ace detective Johan Booysen over a typing error. This is a bloody circus. Please come back PW Botha – you were far more honest than any of these ANC rogues and you provided far better services to the public – we had a functioning education system, functioning health system and the police did not murder miners on behalf of government toadies.”
Kohler Barnard removed the post and has since apologised, writing “I apologise unreservedly for sharing a post on FB in the midst of which the author praised PW Botha. I erased it immediately I realised.”
But DA leader Mmusi Maimane has referred the matter to the party's legal commission, and an internal disciplinary process against Kohler Barnard – an MP for 11 years and the party's spokesperson on police – will follow.
“We don’t support any views which welcome PW Botha, we certainly don’t associate ourselves with a perpetrator of evil against South Africans,” he said.
The issue exploded on social media yesterday, where both Kohler Barnard and her party were attacked heavily. Former DA leader Helen Zille tweeted: “Please withdraw that post and apologise unconditionally. It is indefensible, even if you missed the PW Botha bit.”
DA spokesperson Phumzile van Damme said PW Botha was a tyrant who oversaw torture and murder and DA stalwarts like Helen Suzman and Helen Zille fought the evils of apartheid.