DA ruffles feathers with Indian advert
Party panned for fanning racial tension
A DEMOCRATIC Alliance election pamphlet aimed at wooing Indian voters is in “bad taste”, says independent political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu.
He said the pamphlet, with its title “Sorry, no job — you’re Indian”, was a dangerous ploy that divided people along racial lines.
The leaflet outlines the Department of Labour’s draft Employment Equity Bill, which states, among other things, that employers with more than 150 employees would have to appoint senior managers and professionally qualified staff along racial lines according to national demographics.
“I think this is not something that we should embrace as a country going forward, but I think at the same time we have to be realistic,” said Ndlovu.
“There is freedom of expression, so they might be exercising their rights to express themselves.
“But I would hope that this is not something that will cause more division and polarise the country.”
But the DA’s Haniff Hoosen hit back, saying the bill could have a “devastating impact on the Indian community”.
“It is absolute nonsense to say we are preying on the fears of the Indian community,” he said.
“If anything, it is the ANC that is implementing regulations that bring about the fear. We are merely informing the public about what laws the ANC government is introducing.”
Ndlovu said the party’s decision to go the race route was questionable because the DA was known for marketing itself as colour-blind.
He said this could simply be the party playing on the fears of the Indian community about quotas.
“I would be upset if I had a child who qualified for medical school but was denied because of a quota system,” he said.
“I think that for a political party that is trying to preach unity and promote social cohesion, it is dangerous to appeal to sectarianism.
“But they are not the only ones taking this route. The Inkatha Freedom Party and the Minority Front are known for this. It is nothing new, but for a party like the DA it is in bad taste.”
Hoosen denied this, saying it was the governing party that was promoting racial quotas.
“In as much as we try to move away from issues of colour, it is the ANC who constantly reminds us that we are judged on the basis of colour, which is exactly what the apartheid government did.”
Provincial public works and human settlements MEC Ravi Pillay said: “The DA’s statements are sheer hypocrisy.
“The DA voted for the Employment Equity Act in parliament to curry favour with recently discovered African voters that it is desperately seeking.
“It wants us to believe that it is defending the interests of Indians. I predict it won’t be long before the DA cracks totally under the weight of its crass opportunism and lack of principle.”
ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu labelled the campaign racist.
“They have issued a similar pamphlet in theWestern Cape and our local branch has taken it up,” he said.
Ndlovu said it was unlikely that the leaflets would have a great impact in the polls.
“One thing I can tell you about South Africans is that many of them have probably already made up their minds. Whatever the DA or the ANC says will not make much of a difference.
“I don’t think it will convert an individual who plans on voting for the ANC to vote DA. If anything, it will just solidify the support they already enjoy.” AN eight-year battle to build a Sikh gurudwara (temple) in Sandton has finally ended in victory for businessman Harbinder Sethi Singh.
He faced numerous objections from the Parkmore Residents’ Association in Sandton over the years to the building of the temple as well as prayer services.
He finally got approval from the City of Johannesburg for rezoning a residence to a place of worship and has raised R15-million for the Gurudwara Sahib in the heart of Sandton — a first for Gauteng.
Singh was born in East Africa and moved to South Africa with his family. He now lives in Tanzania but often visits Johannesburg.
“A huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders and I am looking forward to building a big, beautiful temple for our devotees. The land on 4th Street, Parkmore, belonged to my family.
“I decided to donate it to the building of a gurudwara for the Sikh community. But I never imagined we would have to endure the struggle we had to bear for this dream to become a reality,” he said.
He said building would start in about 60 days and the temple would accommodate 50 worshippers.
Nthatisi Mondingoane, the City of Johannesburg’s spokesman, said an application for rezoning was made in August last year, but it was withdrawn because of restrictive conditions of title. “The temple was forced to first undertake an application for the removal of restrictive conditions of title. A planning committee meeting on April 1 approved this application,” he said.
The executive manager of the Parkmore Community Association, Brian Robertson, said 91 residents objected to the building because of how the process was managed. “We objected to the fact that Singh said the building would be a house and then proceeded to build the temple and built over the building line.
“Singh then decided to build the temple with three domes. We objected to this because it did not fit into the aesthetic look of the rest of the buildings in the area.
“We also asked that he ensure the acoustics don’t cause a disturbance and no cooking is done outside.”