Tweet lands DA MMC in hot water
JOHANNESBURG mayor Herman Mashaba suspended fellow DA councillor Mpho Phalatse, a member of the mayoral committee (MMC), after she expressed solidarity with Israel on behalf of the city without consulting or gaining approval from the party, according to the federal leader of the party’s student organisation, Yusuf Cassim.
“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. It’s a fair process for everyone.”
Phalatse wrote on Twitter 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!”.
This triggered a war of words on the social media site as DA supporters expressed their outrage, while one pro-Israel user threatened to help break up the DA.
“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 hate filled party..coming soon,” one user tweeted.
The ANC condemned Phalatse’s comments, saying: “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 city has a twinning relationship with the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which is the de facto headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.
The EFF said it was deeply disturbed by Phalatse’s comments.
We reiterate our solidarity with the heroic people of Palestine
Her comments came amid Israel’s fight against the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign which seeks to sanction the country over its treatment of Palestinians and what the movement calls Israel’s apartheid policies.
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”.
BDS South African welcomed Phalatse’s suspension, calling on the Department of International Relations Co-operation to immediately implement the ANC’s resolution for the “unconditional downgrade of the SA Embassy in Israel to a Liaison Office”.
Reverend Mike Oliphant of the Anglican Church in Johannesburg said: “As someone who has witnessed the suffering of Palestinians, of both Muslim and Christian Palestinians, it is absurd that MMC Phalatse would have even tried to suggest that South Africa stands with Israel.
“South Africans, our ruling party, several of our opposition parties, our government, our civil society, churches, unions and others all firmly stand with the Palestinian struggle against Israeli apartheid. On this issue we are united in our diversity.”