By Subry Govender
The ruling ANC in South Africa, which has always promoted the principle of non-racialism and "South Africa belongs to all who live in it", has moved fast to suspend one of its officials, Visvin Reddy, for calling on people of Indian-origin "to go to India".
Reddy, who is reportedly the chairperson of an ANC branch in the predominantly Indian residential area of Chatsworth, described Indian-origin people as "whiners" and called on them "to go to India" and then see what a good life they enjoy in South Africa.
In a posting on Facebook last Friday, he said: "To you anti ANC commentators wait until May 8 … The ANC will still rule this country. You whiners should leave … Go to India and you will see what a good life we have here. Continue with your garbage and marginalise yourself further. Don’t blame the ANC, blame yourself. You have not yet embraced democracy. Only a foolish Indian in SA will not engage the majority constructively."
Reddy made the comment at a time when the ANC and other political parties have been criss-crossing the country to woo voters for the country's fifth democratic elections on Wednesday, May 7.
He obviously made the remark after finding that many people of Indian-origin have expressed their disillusionment with the corruption, inefficiency and other malaises that confront the ruling ANC under the presidency of Jacob Zuma.
The ANC's secretary general in the KwaZulu-Natal, Mr Sihle Zikalala, said Reddy had been suspended immediately and the due internal processes would deal with the matter.
"We are a non-racial party and will not promote such racial talk," said Mr Zikalala.
"We do not associate ourselves with any sentiments which seek to divide our members on the basis of race, sex, colour or creed. The ANC is for everyone.”
The ANC has a rich history of working with the Indian-origin community from the time it was established in the early 1990s. It has had a strong bond with the now disbandded Natal Indian Congress, which was started by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894, and also with the South African Indian Congress, the Transvaal Indian Congress, the Congress of Democrats (white) and the Coloured Peoples Congress, during the freedom struggle years from the 1940s to the dawn of democracy in 1994.
Reddy's "go to India" statement has not only caused a stir but some some opposition political parties are using the faux pas to score political points. The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has been sending out SMs to Indian-origin people and calling on them to vote for it because "the ANC wants Indians to go back to India".
The ANC has condemned this as "cheap opportunism".
Now that the ANC has taken swift action against Reddy, it will be appropriate to reflect on who is this politician who claims to be a leader within the Indian-origin community.
From all accounts it's not a surprise that politicians of the calibre of Visvin Reddy make statements that are not only reactionary in character but also downright offensive.
Who is this Visvin Reddy, who has been suspended by the ruling ANC for describing Indian-origin people as "whiners" and calling on the people "to go to India"?
What is the background of this politician who is reportedly the
chairman of an ANC branch in Chatsworth?
At the time of our transition into our new non-racial democracy in 1994, I recall that Visvin Reddy was a pal and colleague of the late Amichand Rajbansi in his Minority Front party.
Then after a while there was a fall-out between the two former stooges and Reddy went to the DA. He did not last a week in the day and thereafter ran to the ANC. The ANC had no business to open its doors to reactionary and apartheid opportunists, but sadly this is what had happened.
Many former struggle activists such as the late Professor Fatima Meer were vehemently opposed to the ANC giving refuge and being a home to the likes of Visvin Reddy but it seems in politics there's no place for values and principles that we endeared during the struggle years.
I don't know what Visvin Reddy's status in the ANC today is but it seems that he's gone overdrive in promoting his chances for higher office. He knows nothing about following the values and principles of the ANC struggles and, therefore, will do anything to promote himself.
No member of the ANC worth his salt will sink to such a low level and the gutter to condemn fellow citizens and call on them to "go to India".
Visvin Reddy must understand that all citizens are South Africans and they have the democratic right in terms of the freedom we attained in 1994 to express themselves freely and to associate themselves with whomsoever they choose. No one has the right to dictate to fellow South Africans as to which political party they must belong to or support.
In the struggles that we had been involved in prior to 1994, we did not see people according to their race or colour or whether they were part of the majority or minority. We only saw people as those who were part of the oppressed and those who were the oppressors. Not black or white.
It's only reactionaries of the types of Visvin Reddy who categorise people according to race in our new democratic South Africa.
It seems some people of Indian-origin find themselves today in a state of disarray and confusion primarily because we don't anymore have the leaders of the calibre of the Monty Naickers, Yusuf Dadoos, Ismail Meers, Fatima Meers, J N Singhs, and George Singhs.
Another reason for the confusion and disarray is that we don't have a progressive organisation like the Natal Indian Congress(NIC), which played a crucial role with the ANC and other progressive forces in bringing about the freedom we enjoy today. It seems certain leaders of the NIC had made a major error or misjudgement in pushing for the disbandment of the NIC early in 1994, just before the first democratic
elections on April 27 of that year. Those who chose to disband the NIC did not even take into account the advice of Nelson Mandela that the NIC should remain because it had a role to play in the new South Africa.
Although it may have been seen by some of the NIC activists to be a politically correct decision to take at that time, twenty years later many people of Indian-origin find that if the NIC was around today it could play a constructive role and a "guiding force" in the new South Africa.
It's because of the lack of a progressive organisation like the NIC that we find elements such as the Visvin Reddys going astray.
The ANC has now taken action against Visvin Reddy and the next step should be to show him the door. ends
The ruling ANC in South Africa, which has always promoted the principle of non-racialism and "South Africa belongs to all who live in it", has moved fast to suspend one of its officials, Visvin Reddy, for calling on people of Indian-origin "to go to India".
Reddy, who is reportedly the chairperson of an ANC branch in the predominantly Indian residential area of Chatsworth, described Indian-origin people as "whiners" and called on them "to go to India" and then see what a good life they enjoy in South Africa.
In a posting on Facebook last Friday, he said: "To you anti ANC commentators wait until May 8 … The ANC will still rule this country. You whiners should leave … Go to India and you will see what a good life we have here. Continue with your garbage and marginalise yourself further. Don’t blame the ANC, blame yourself. You have not yet embraced democracy. Only a foolish Indian in SA will not engage the majority constructively."
Reddy made the comment at a time when the ANC and other political parties have been criss-crossing the country to woo voters for the country's fifth democratic elections on Wednesday, May 7.
He obviously made the remark after finding that many people of Indian-origin have expressed their disillusionment with the corruption, inefficiency and other malaises that confront the ruling ANC under the presidency of Jacob Zuma.
The ANC's secretary general in the KwaZulu-Natal, Mr Sihle Zikalala, said Reddy had been suspended immediately and the due internal processes would deal with the matter.
"We are a non-racial party and will not promote such racial talk," said Mr Zikalala.
"We do not associate ourselves with any sentiments which seek to divide our members on the basis of race, sex, colour or creed. The ANC is for everyone.”
The ANC has a rich history of working with the Indian-origin community from the time it was established in the early 1990s. It has had a strong bond with the now disbandded Natal Indian Congress, which was started by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894, and also with the South African Indian Congress, the Transvaal Indian Congress, the Congress of Democrats (white) and the Coloured Peoples Congress, during the freedom struggle years from the 1940s to the dawn of democracy in 1994.
Reddy's "go to India" statement has not only caused a stir but some some opposition political parties are using the faux pas to score political points. The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has been sending out SMs to Indian-origin people and calling on them to vote for it because "the ANC wants Indians to go back to India".
The ANC has condemned this as "cheap opportunism".
Now that the ANC has taken swift action against Reddy, it will be appropriate to reflect on who is this politician who claims to be a leader within the Indian-origin community.
From all accounts it's not a surprise that politicians of the calibre of Visvin Reddy make statements that are not only reactionary in character but also downright offensive.
Who is this Visvin Reddy, who has been suspended by the ruling ANC for describing Indian-origin people as "whiners" and calling on the people "to go to India"?
What is the background of this politician who is reportedly the
chairman of an ANC branch in Chatsworth?
At the time of our transition into our new non-racial democracy in 1994, I recall that Visvin Reddy was a pal and colleague of the late Amichand Rajbansi in his Minority Front party.
Then after a while there was a fall-out between the two former stooges and Reddy went to the DA. He did not last a week in the day and thereafter ran to the ANC. The ANC had no business to open its doors to reactionary and apartheid opportunists, but sadly this is what had happened.
Many former struggle activists such as the late Professor Fatima Meer were vehemently opposed to the ANC giving refuge and being a home to the likes of Visvin Reddy but it seems in politics there's no place for values and principles that we endeared during the struggle years.
I don't know what Visvin Reddy's status in the ANC today is but it seems that he's gone overdrive in promoting his chances for higher office. He knows nothing about following the values and principles of the ANC struggles and, therefore, will do anything to promote himself.
No member of the ANC worth his salt will sink to such a low level and the gutter to condemn fellow citizens and call on them to "go to India".
Visvin Reddy must understand that all citizens are South Africans and they have the democratic right in terms of the freedom we attained in 1994 to express themselves freely and to associate themselves with whomsoever they choose. No one has the right to dictate to fellow South Africans as to which political party they must belong to or support.
In the struggles that we had been involved in prior to 1994, we did not see people according to their race or colour or whether they were part of the majority or minority. We only saw people as those who were part of the oppressed and those who were the oppressors. Not black or white.
It's only reactionaries of the types of Visvin Reddy who categorise people according to race in our new democratic South Africa.
It seems some people of Indian-origin find themselves today in a state of disarray and confusion primarily because we don't anymore have the leaders of the calibre of the Monty Naickers, Yusuf Dadoos, Ismail Meers, Fatima Meers, J N Singhs, and George Singhs.
Another reason for the confusion and disarray is that we don't have a progressive organisation like the Natal Indian Congress(NIC), which played a crucial role with the ANC and other progressive forces in bringing about the freedom we enjoy today. It seems certain leaders of the NIC had made a major error or misjudgement in pushing for the disbandment of the NIC early in 1994, just before the first democratic
elections on April 27 of that year. Those who chose to disband the NIC did not even take into account the advice of Nelson Mandela that the NIC should remain because it had a role to play in the new South Africa.
Although it may have been seen by some of the NIC activists to be a politically correct decision to take at that time, twenty years later many people of Indian-origin find that if the NIC was around today it could play a constructive role and a "guiding force" in the new South Africa.
It's because of the lack of a progressive organisation like the NIC that we find elements such as the Visvin Reddys going astray.
The ANC has now taken action against Visvin Reddy and the next step should be to show him the door. ends
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