The DA in Knysna says comments allegedly made by its councillor Sharon Sabbagh, referring to her fellow councillors as “monkeys”, have been “misconstrued”.
During a recent council meeting in Knysna, Sabbagh is alleged to have said “we are gonna have a yeppa-yeppa monkey circus going on here”, with the EFF now calling for her immediate removal.
According to the EFF an audio recording of the comments was making the rounds on social media. The EFF in the province said the comments constituted crimen injuria.
“Sabbagh’s racist behaviour is unacceptable and should never be left unchallenged.
“The racist behaviour of referring and calling black people monkeys is not an isolated case, but both a structural and endemic phenomenon whose roots could be traced back to colonialism and later apartheid where black people were depicted in a negative light and their blackness portrayed as an aberration.
“In the South African context not only did colonialism undermine the human dignity of the black indigenous Africans but it also sought to locate them outside of the human family closer to the animal kingdom, hence their treatment as lesser human beings ...her utterances are a microcosm of a much bigger institutionalised racism,” the party said in a statement.
EFF Western Cape has also called on the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate Sabbagh and said they would lodge a case with police.
DA constituency head for Knysna, Dion George, said the comments were “misconstrued”.
Probed about the context of the conversation, enquiries were referred to Sabbagh.
Sabbagh did not answer enquiries by deadline.
“The councillor’s comments have been misconstrued and shamefully used to deflect voters’ attention from the destruction the ANC/PA/EFF coalition caused in Knysna as a result of their absolute failure to deliver services to residents, especially to lower income households.
“The ANC/PA/EFF Coalition of Corruption has completely destroyed Knysna.
The ANC has called for Council to suspend her pending the outcome of an investigation into a possible breach of code of conduct for councillors.
“The ANC rejects these comments with the contempt they deserve and calls South Africans to join in the rejection of all racists in our country, wherever they are.
“It is sad that well meaning South Africa has to contend with this backward attitude.”
The Knysna Municipality did not respond to questions by deadline on Monday.
Cape Times