The DA election posters that were put up in KwaZulu-Natal this week were insensitive and a cruel disregard for the families who lost their loved ones in Phoenix, Durban, during the July riots.
“The ANC called you racist. The DA calls you heroes,” read the posters, that caused outraged in the country as more than 30 black people were killed during vigilante attacks.
After mounting pressure, the DA apologised yesterday, and said it had begun removing them. The removal came two days too late as the bereaved were hurt by the racially insensitive message.
“I’m still traumatised by what I went through but now I have huge anger from the insult that the DA has poked on victims of Phoenix violence... As a mother who lost a son, I’m horrified and angry. They have taken it too far," said a parent whose child died in the attacks.
Yes, it is a silly season of electioneering but there is no justification for using people’s death and grief to try and garner votes. The decision to use such a message was in poor taste and divisive.
People were brutally killed in Phoenix in the name of protecting property against looting. A few weeks after the riots, police minister Bheki Cele said 36 were killed of which 30 were shot. “Two were burnt to death. One was stabbed and another was run over by a motor vehicle. Two others died from the brutal injuries they sustained after being assaulted.”
He said trouble in the area ensued “when some people operating the checkpoints turned to vigilantism and started racially profiling people, [denying] them entry into the suburb. This amounted to unlawful discrimination and a restriction of movement for mainly African people.”
When human beings are killed in such a despicable manner, how does anyone decide to use such an incident to campaign? Where is their sympathy?
DA KZN leader Dean Macpherson said the message was meant as a tribute to “heroic residents” of Phoenix who stood up when the police and the army failed them. This does not even make sense as there were no reports of looting in the Durban suburb during the riots, so what and who were these heroes protecting?
The posters supported racism in an already divided community, and downplayed vigilantism and criminality that led to loss of lives.
Such messages are unacceptable and should be strongly condemned. Thanks to the public’s outrage, these posters were finally removed.
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