The DA Women's Network (Dawn) has defended party leader John Steenhuisen's comment likening his ex-wife to “roadkill”, saying women should not be oversensitive.
Dawn chair in Gauteng, Stefanie Ueckermann, told Beeld newspaper that men will never treat women as their equals if they are overly sensitive.
She said she had known Steenhuisen for a long time and her experience was that he always treated women with respect and was not “sexist and patriarchal”.
“If you are standing around any braai where the men are talking and women are constantly objecting to how men talk to us, then we will never get that foot in the door, because we want to be seen as equal so that we can compete with men,” she told the Afrikaans daily.
Steenhuisen's controversial comments were made during an interview with radio DJ MacG and co-host Sol Phenduka in the Podcast and Chill episode released on YouTube on Thursday.
When asked by MacG what “roadkill” is, Steenhuisen said it “sounds a lot like my ex-wife”, eliciting howls of laughter. He then said it was a “flat chicken”.
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DA Women's Network defends John Steenhuisen's 'roadkill' comment
'If women are constantly objecting to how men talk to us around the braai, then we will never get that foot in the door'
Image: Frennie Shivambu
The DA Women's Network (Dawn) has defended party leader John Steenhuisen's comment likening his ex-wife to “roadkill”, saying women should not be oversensitive.
Dawn chair in Gauteng, Stefanie Ueckermann, told Beeld newspaper that men will never treat women as their equals if they are overly sensitive.
She said she had known Steenhuisen for a long time and her experience was that he always treated women with respect and was not “sexist and patriarchal”.
“If you are standing around any braai where the men are talking and women are constantly objecting to how men talk to us, then we will never get that foot in the door, because we want to be seen as equal so that we can compete with men,” she told the Afrikaans daily.
Steenhuisen's controversial comments were made during an interview with radio DJ MacG and co-host Sol Phenduka in the Podcast and Chill episode released on YouTube on Thursday.
When asked by MacG what “roadkill” is, Steenhuisen said it “sounds a lot like my ex-wife”, eliciting howls of laughter. He then said it was a “flat chicken”.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE:
EDITORIAL | Steenhuisen’s roadkill ‘lapse’ on air is a window into his views on women
Mampara of the week: John Steenhuisen
Cele calls Steenhuisen a 'woman abuser who pressured wife to marry'
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