Image: iOL
Faizel Patel – 02/08/2021
Democratic Alliance (DA) KwaZulu-Natal leader Francois Rodgers says the racism allegations against Indians after the deadly riots and looting is a result of government’s failure to protect its citizens during an attempted insurrection.
Rodgers was speaking to Radio Islam about the increase in racist attacks against Indians the province.
Jackie Shandu, convener for the Phoenix Massacre victims, apologised for his ‘one Indian, one bullet’ chants, but both the African Democratic Change party and the DA laid criminal charges against him.
In another case, the African National Congress (ANC) is threatening its Youth League Task Team spokesperson, Sizophila Mkhize with disciplinary action after she accused Indians of killing black people while addressing a crowd at the Verulam Magistrates Court.
Rodgers says government should take responsibility for the situation in KZN.
“We’ve lost three hundred lives in the province during that period and one life is just too many. It seems very strange that the entire focus on all the death in the province during this time is in solely on Indian communities. I now see the premier is now on about Chatsworth and other various Indian communities. It’s a bigger picture then just the Indian communities in our province.”
Rodgers says he does not believe the incidents in Phoenix and KZN was motivated by racism.
“I think there’s certain structures in our province, certain political structures that would certainly like to use this as a wedge and to drive the race issue, but I don’t think it’s solely race based in generalised form. It’s become race based subsequently to the anarchy that took place.”
Rodgers says while Shandu has apologised for his comments, he should not have inflamed an already volatile situation adding that he must be arrested and face the full might of the law.
Listen to the interview with Francois Rodgers
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