Minorities of whatever race, creed or culture are best protected when the rights and values of all citizens are defended and actively fought for, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon said on Saturday.
Leon was speaking at the DA’s provincial congress in KwaZulu-Natal.
”We have a specific offer to make to minorities, to include them as part of a greater whole, where different cultures are celebrated and championed.
”This is not the politics of the ethnic cul-de-sac of the kind offered by parties like the Freedom Front Plus and the Minority Front,” Leon said.
Leon accused the African National Congress (ANC) of waging a silent but determined war against minorities.
”It is no wonder former president Nelson Mandela blasted arrogant members of the new, ANC-aligned black elite, who throw their weight around and breed insecurity amongst minority groups.”
The DA said the ANC may gesture at upholding minority rights, ”but this is in reality a convenient tool to maintain and consolidate power”.
Leon said all over South Africa, different minorities are voicing unease at the ANC’s ”riding roughshod” over linguistic and cultural rights.
”For example, in the Western Cape, during their three-year rule of Cape Town, the ANC used national rather than provincial demographic figures in employment-equity appointments, blatantly discriminating against 60% of the population.
”This anti-coloured stance of the ANC is not just the opinion of the opposition, but is today the received wisdom of such ANC stalwarts as Franklin Sonn, Alan Boesak and, heaven help us, even Ebrahim Rasool himself,” he said. — Sapa