‘It’s not racist, my kids shop at Pep’: Steenhuisen on ‘drunkard’ crime warden comments

DA leader John Steenhuisen has defended his stance on the Gauteng crime wardens that some of them were “drunkards”, insisting his comments made last week were not racist.

Steenhuisen was addressing supporters on Saturday on a campaign trail in Soshanguve when he made remarks about the wardens which sparked outrage.

“What did Panyaza Lesufi do? He took your tax money to buy ill-fitting Pep Stores uniforms for untrained cadres and pretended that they were 'crime wardens'. What kind of person pulls a drunkard out of a shebeen, gives him a uniform and a weapon, and then unleashes them onto a community?”

The comments, which were posted on the DA account on social media platform X, have sparked huge public backlash against Steenhuisen, with many accusing him of racism, as most of the crime wardens are black.

But on Wednesday Steenhuisen said he stood by his statements despite the backlash, and he won't apologise.

“I don't think there’s any reason to apologise. I shop at Pep, 90% of my daughters’ clothing comes from Pep. I’m very proud to shop there, it's value for money. There’s nothing racist about that. There was nothing racist about it when people said Carl Niehaus wears Pep Store camouflage. It is into the South African lexicon.”

He dubbed the wardens a “private militia” which is wreaking havoc in Gauteng communities, engaging in alleged violence.

“They are wreaking havoc in those communities — 22 vehicles crashed, innocent people are being pulled out of their homes and beaten up, real police officers are being physically attacked. This is a militia being run by Panyaza Lesufi and believe you me, it’s not going to be long before they turn on politicians. Once they’re finished with us, they’re going to come for everybody else. We should be very worried about this private military.”

He rejected the wardens as a mere “election gimmick” to win ANC support before the upcoming polls.

“The real issue here is that we’ve got crime wardens running around acting on the instructions of a politician and are causing significant harm and acting in unlawful ways — including certifying documents, acting as commissioners of oath when they have no authority to do so.

“This is a private militia which needs to be dismantled if we want to have proper crime-fighting ability. They must be properly trained, equipped and uniformed agents, so that they can actually get into the job of fighting crime.

“This is an election gimmick by Lesufi and it’s starting to have deadly consequences for ordinary citizens who find themselves on the wrong side of the baton.”

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