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The ANC in Parliament has not decided whether disciplinary steps would be taken against MP Bongani Mkongi after his controversial Facebook post on the weekend.
After intervention by ANC chief whip Stone Sizani, the MP later apologised for his post that called for the building on which the #ZumaMustFall billboard was erected to be burnt down, and that its inhabitants be “burnt to death”.
Mkongi, meanwhile, continued to be active on his Facebook page yesterday. In one comment, he said: “I am not going to be censored. I speak what I like.” His page was unavailable periodically, and when contacted by Media 24, he accused Facebook of attempting to shut him down.
ANC parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said yesterday that the “problematic” burning statement could “reasonably be construed to incite violence”, and the party had acted to ensure that it had been retracted.
“A decision on further action has not yet been taken,” said Mothapo.
“It is totally against what the ANC stands for,” he said, appealing for “non-racial South Africans” to not resort to utterances that incited violence and hate as a backlash to “racist bigotry” on social media. “They must never stoop to that level”, said Mothapo.
He added that there was nothing wrong with ANC supporters’ decision to remove the illegal billboard on Saturday.
Mkongi said that while he had apologised for his “unacceptable” statement he would continue to speak his mind against “white supremacy”, even if he was fired.
“I don’t care what the ANC decides. If they want me out, I will be out,” he said.
“Racism must fall, and that issue stands. The problem we have in South Africa is white power, white arrogance and white supremacy,” he said, claiming that the DA was responsible for the billboard and also the #ZumaMustFall campaign, which he said was racist.
The DA will press ahead with a formal complaint to Parliament’s ethics committee this morning. DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said on Sunday that the ANC needed to practice what it preached and take disciplinary action.
“It is unacceptable for an MP to contravene the Constitution by not only call for a building to be burnt down but for people to be burnt. As the ANC chief whip himself said when Dianne Kohler Barnard stepped out of line, an apology is one thing, but MPs need to be held to account.”
He dismissed claims that the DA was responsible for the billboard, saying that Mkongi had gone off “half-cocked without any facts”.
He also dismissed ANC claims that the #ZumaMustFall campaign was racist.
“As the ANC gets backed into a corner, with a tanking economy, Nenegate and business confidence at an all-time low, it is trying to distract South Africans by using racial McCarthyism. We must be careful not to confuse real acts of racism with an hysterical whipping up of racial hatred.”
