“It is clear that if you stand up to Zuma, you don’t stick around, zuma has reached new heights as a leader who puts himself ahead of his country and the economy.”
“I’m not fundamentally capitalist or socialist. If you held a gun to my head, I would say I believe in a declining state and increasing private sector, I would work closely with unions but we’re not compromised by being in an unhealthy alliance with them.”
“The injury of racial inequality is compounded by the insult of racism. It is like pouring salt in a deep wound.”
“For every incident of overt racism, there are thousands of instances of casual, everyday racism: Talking down to people, laughing when people pronounce an English word incorrectly, not bothering to acknowledge people, believing somebody’s accent is a sign of their intelligence.”
“It is equally important to acknowledge that racism is not the preserve of any one group. To say that black people are not capable of prejudice is itself a twisted form of racism.”
“I am not going to stand here and pretend I have all the answers. I don’t think anybody does. What I do know is that any road to reconciliation starts with a conversation.”
“No DA member must ever turn a blind eye to racism, no matter how subtle or coded. We need to call people out on their behaviour, even when confronting them makes us feel uncomfortable. We have a duty to stand up and speak out for our values. Because racists are not welcome in the DA. And if you’re a racist and you are thinking of voting for the DA, please don’t. We are not the party for you.”
“My objective is to ensure that, by 2019, our parliamentary and legislature caucuses, and our decision-making structures at all levels, reflect the diversity of our complex society. And we will do it without resorting to dehumanising quotas that reduce human beings to statistics.”
“We must challenge each other’s ideas in a constructive manner. For this is how we learn from each other and grow stronger.”
“In a free society every person has the power to improve their lives, because freedom means nothing without opportunities. Every citizen must be given a chance to be the best they can be.”
“A fair society is a more equal society. It is a society where every child, whether they are born in Soweto or Sandton, has the same chance of making a success of their lives.”
“Racism demeans us. All of us, black and white. It opens the wounds of its victims, and exposes the ignorance of those who perpetrate it. It robs us of the dignity that so many fought for. And racism divides us. Just look at us. At the very moment we need to be standing together, we are being torn apart.”
“Like in a marriage, we made a commitment to each other. Our antenuptial agreement was the Constitution we signed twenty years ago on the 8th of May 1996. On that day, we vowed to respect each other. We vowed to grow old together. We vowed to stick together, through thick and thin, in sickness and in health.”
“We – as black South Africans – are still made to feel inferior because of the colour of our skin. And this inferiority complex runs deep. I remember growing up how we used to refer to successful black South Africans as ‘ngamla’ (a white person). And I cannot tell you how many times I am told by black South Africans that I have “done well” because I happen to be married to a white woman.”
“You see, Madam Speaker, the biggest sell-out in our country is none other than the President himself.”
“It cannot be that if you are white and you don’t agree with the ANC, you are called a racist, and if you are black, you are called a sell-out.”
Related Links: The 2016 Municipal Elections in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The 2016 Municipal Elections are over.
Alan Straton
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