Boesak attacks ANC on 'racist'
2005-08-01 22:18
Port Elizabeth - If anyone made derogatory comments about black people like those made by media adviser Blackman Ngoro about coloured people, he would have been lynched.
So says the Rev Allan Boesak, former anti-apartheid activist, who is, in his own words, keeping as far as possible from politics nowadays.
"This time, I can't keep quiet," said Boesak, who is in PE on a business and church visit, to Die Burger on Monday.
Boesak is minister to the Piketberg congregation of the World Congregation of Reformed Churches.
"Two weeks have come and gone already, and the African National Congress hasn't taken action against Ngoro yet.
"Serious questions can now be raised about the ANC's principle of non-racism," said Boesak.
When the news broke about Ngoro's derogatory comments on a website, Boesak thought the ANC's leaders would immediately claim his head.
Pastors set to take action
Ngoro said black people were coloured people's cultural superiors and that they (coloured people) would die a drunken death if they did not go through a process of ideological transformation.
Boesak said a delegation of pastors from several churches had told him already that they were going to use the pulpit to propagate the concept that one couldn't vote for an organisation that allowed such things to be said about coloured people.
According to Boesak, there are a lot of people who want to revive coloured nationalism and, although this is not a wish of the coloured community, the lack of action against an ANC man like Ngoro would fuel this sentiment.
He said: "If you ask me, the ANC has waited too long to fire the man. There is little time left before the municipal elections.
Voters 'wil be driven away'
"Because of Ngoro, voters - who want to vote for the ANC because of its non-racist policy - will be driven to other parties," said Boesak.
According to Boesak, Ngoro is a Zimbabwean.
"What qualifications does he have to understand our politics as a non-South African?
"And, if he doesn't know, why doesn't he know; why has he then been appointed to such a position?" asked Boesak.
Ngoro works for the mayor of Cape Town, Nomaindia Mfeketo, as as a media adviser.