The ANC in the Western Cape will stand firmly behind its councillors who were involved in the taking down of the “Zuma must fall” banner, provincial leader Marius Fransman has said.
The banner was erected in the Cape Town CBD last Friday by an advertising agency contracted by a “private entity”, and was taken down by ANC supporters on Saturday.
Following the fracas over the banner, the City of Cape Town this week resolved to investigate the conduct of any councillors who were involved.
Speaking to News24, Fransman said the party stood firmly behind their councillors, including ANC's Cape Metro chairperson and chief whip Xolani Sotashe‚ who led the banner removal on Saturday.
“We stand by comrade Sotashe, we say enough is enough. In fact, they were able to move very quickly on our councillors, but they were unable to move fast on the man behind them. That is unacceptable. We will support the youth league in their fight against racism,” Fransman said.
He said the person behind the “Zuma Must Fall” banner, who has remained anonymous, had done something like this before and the city was slow in acting against him.
He said there was an underlying message that black people were sub human and that was racism.
“We must always appreciate the fact that they will say all these bad things about the ANC, and in any case they will continue to do so.”
The “Zuma Must Fall” banner was a new level of negativity that should not be allowed, he said.
“The fact that a person doesn’t take ownership of putting up a Zuma Must Fall banner is suspect. How do you put up a Zuma Must Fall banner? They're going for a subtle coup d'état and we are saying we won’t allow that.”
The banner was replaced with the South African flag on Tuesday.
Source: News24
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