DA member banned for tweet
JOHANNESBURG Mayor Herman Mashaba has suspended DA mayoral committee member Mpho Phalatse after she expressed solidarity for Israel on behalf of the city, without consulting or getting approval from the party, DA student organisation leader Yusuf Cassim said yesterday.
Phalatse – tweeting on Monday: “I would like to declare that I am a friend of Israel, and the city of Johannesburg is a friend of Israel! Shalom Shalom” – triggered a war of words on Twitter, as DA supporters expressed their outrage while a pro-Israel user threatened to help break the DA up.
“Your DA is falling apart at the seams. We have friends who are inside your party and cannot wait to find a way to destroy your hatefilled party… coming soon,” tweeted NO2BDS.ORG.
The ANC condemned Phalatse’s comments. “We strongly condemn this behaviour and distance ourselves unequivocally,” it said.
“As the ANC in Johannesburg, we reiterate our solidarity with the heroic people of Palestine. We condemn Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the systematic oppression meted out to the Palestinian people for decades.”
The DA, which runs the City of Johannesburg, has a relationship with the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The EFF said it was deeply disturbed by Phalatse’s remarks, and her DA colleagues also condemned her.
“I am going to lay charges. DA provincial leader John Moodey is going to lay charges,” Cassim said.
“If members believe a party member has exceeded their mandate they have the right to lay charges.”
Israel’s ministry of strategic affairs recently sponsored a pro-Israel campaign in South Africa, after its Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan accused South Africa of supporting “terrorists”.
The strategic affairs ministry, together with Maccabi World Union, SA Zionist Federation and the local Jewish community, embarked on a pro-Israel propaganda campaign from June 3 until Sunday, which brought together about 1 000 pro-Israel Jewish and Christian supporters.
Phalatse’s pro-Israel stance was reportedly partly a result of this publicity. – African News Agency (ANA)