DA leader John Steenhuisen has made it clear that he will not apologize for the posters that the DA put up in Phoenix, the posters read “The ANC calls you racist, the DA calls you heroes”.
This is in reference to the violence that broke out in the area in July when 36 people were killed after vigilantes clashed with suspected looters.
On Tuesday, the ANC in KZN labeled the Phoenix posters “shameful and fascist in nature”, however Steenhuisen was adamant that the DA was merely defending South Africans who stood up for the rule of law: “The people are heroes. The people that are heroes are the South Africans that, when government retreated and Saps [South African Police Service] retreated, stood up and defended the rule of law, defended the Constitution, and defended their lives and livelihoods. Those are heroes. I will call them heroes and I’ll continue to call them heroes because they did not retreat in the face of danger, they did not hide away like the Saps and [Police Minister] Bheki Cele’s people.”
Steenhuisen made these comments on the day that three men from Phoenix were back in court on charges of murder and attempted murder after allegedly attacking five unarmed men. He denied that was calling these men heroes, despite the fact that the election posters were put up in Phoenix.
He also denied that the DA was perpetuating racial tension in the area, stating that it was the ANC who called the Indian community in Phoenix “racist”. And he denied that the posters were solely targeting the Indian community in the area.
“Everyone in the ANC painted that entire community with the same brush. Yes, there were vigilantes and the law must take its course. They’re not my heroes… The heroes in that situation [in Phoenix] are the South Africans that stood on the frontline.”
“The heroes are black, white, Indian and coloured South Africans who stood up for the rule of law,” he said.
He also claimed that the police in Phoenix had no capacity to stop the looting.
“As South Africans we should be terrified about the lack of ability of the South African Police Service to keep citizens safe. I’m not going to retreat from the fact that any law-abiding South Africans that stand on the side of law and order, maintaining public order, and ensuring that the law is abided by, are heroes. Absolutely, they were heroes. The villains were the government, who let the people down by allowing [the unrest] to spiral out of control.”
Sources: MSN, The Citizen
Follow FiND iT here.
ALSO READ: DA in trouble over ‘racist’ election posters
