eThekwini executive council member Yogis Govender is fuming at the handling of an investigation into the identity of a councillor who made racist remarks against her during a meeting.
Govender believes there is a cover up by the unidentified councillor’s colleagues.
During a council meeting on November 6 a councillor shouted “go back to Bombay” while she was debating an item on the installation of a monument to honour the arrival of indentured Indians in South Africa in November 1860.
The following day speaker Thabani Nyawose said his office would investigate and identify the person responsible for the remarks, having initially been non-committal at first.
During a council meeting on Monday, Nyawose reported back that they were unable to find the culprit.
He explained the live stream footage and voice recordings of that meeting had been viewed. “It, however, proved to be a challenge to complete the investigation since it was not possible in the live stream link to identify the alleged culprit since our cameras do not focus on council members who have not been recognised by the speaker to debate or to address council.”
“On the voice recording, the councillor was heard very clearly uttering the unfortunate remarks, however it has been difficult to identify the council member's voice.”
He said a request was circulated to all councillors pleading for anyone who has information to come forward so that the guilty party can be identified and brought to book as per the city’s rules and code of conduct.
“It is requested that those councillors assist the office of the speaker with such information as a joint effort towards addressing this matter since these racist remarks reflect negatively on the eThekwini municipal council.”
Govender told TimesLIVE Premium she believes Nyawose and his office could have done better.
“I do not believe that the speaker has been thorough enough in conducting a proper investigation into this matter. It is extremely weak and worrying for the speaker to say that because the perpetrator has not owned up, there is nothing more to do.”
She further expressed disappointment about an alleged “cover up” by fellow councillors as no-one had come forward to identify the perpetrator.
“The DA condemns the conduct of this racist councillor and his accomplices in covering up his crime. There would be several people sitting next to this perpetrator who know who it is but are protecting him.”
The principle remains that the ANC is not a racist organisation. If any of the councillors among us made those racist comments, we disown that councillor and if we had known which councillor it was they would have been brought to book
— Nkosenhle Madlala
Meanwhile, ActionSA leader Zwakele Mncwango had alleged at the time that he heard those remarks coming from the ANC benches and reiterated that on Monday, though he conceded he had not seen the actual person.
“I’m saying it on record again that I didn’t see the councillor, but I heard them. It came from the ANC bench. To maintain our level of ethics, I believe the ANC leadership should be able to identify that person.”
He further alleged that Nyawose was “protecting” the perpetrator.
“It is evident that the speaker is not interested in holding the perpetrator accountable but is instead protecting the ANC at the expense of eThekwini residents. Despite ActionSA pointing out that the remarks were made by an ANC councillor, the speaker chose to ignore our input and shield the racist individual,” he said.
“By protecting the racist ANC councillor, the speaker has displayed his lack of political will to fight against racism within the highest decision-making body in the municipality. Furthermore, he has not only undermined the dignity of Indian nationals but has also failed in his duty to uphold impartiality and accountability in council matters. This conduct is a disservice to the people of eThekwini, and the speaker ought to be ashamed of his actions.”
However, the ANC caucus refuted Mncwango’s claims and distanced itself from those remarks.
Nkosenhle Madlala said the ANC had always strived for a community without any sort of discrimination and that their past leaders had fought and died in pursuit of that vision.
“It would be something else, then, at this time to have one of us associated with such an action. As the ANC caucus we are distancing ourselves from those remarks and if the alleged culprit is among us we will bring them forward,” he said.
“The principle remains that the ANC is not a racist organisation. If any of the councillors among us made those racist comments, we disown that councillor and if we had known which councillor it was they would have been brought to book.”
Govender said the party was awaiting confirmation of the inclusion in the next council meeting agenda of the motion of no confidence it filed against Nyawose after the meeting in November.
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