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Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu called on DA leader Mmusi Maimane to closely address the racism in his party.
Sisulu was the sweeper or the last speaker on the first day of the state of the nation debate and her speech focused on the achievements of the ANC government over the past 22 years and “the racism in the DA”.
Sisulu began by suggesting that opposition MPs were weak-minded, quoting a “timeless wisdom” that says: “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and weak minds discuss people”.
“And now I can add to that. They even create and name planets. That is the banality that weak minds resort to,” she said.
Earlier in the debate Maimane had stated that President Jacob Zuma lived on his own planet, which he dubbed Planet Zuma.
He said Planet Zuma was a place in a parallel universe, far, far away from the lives of ordinary South Africans.
Sisulu said the response to Zuma’s state of the nation address could be grouped into two camps; the anti-ANC and anti-Zuma brigade, which she said was predictable and was exemplified by Maimane.
“He was probably playing marbles when the president spoke, because he did not respond to anything that the president said.”
The second group, which she called “the discerning citizens”, mainly comprised investors, business people, economists, chief executives of companies, captains of industry and ordinary citizens wanting to hear about the future of the country.
She said this group not only listened but also read the state of the nation address.
Sisulu had advice for Maimane.
She said it was interesting that Zuma pointed out the seemingly intractable challenge and demon of racism in his state of the nation address and yet Maimane “heard nothing and saw nothing”.
“It encapsulates the nothingness of his speech.”
She reminded the house that the ANC was founded on the principle of nonracialism, saying nation-building was premised on the ability to deal with this demon.
“The resolution of the race problem requires, among other things, that we understand racism from the perspective of the victim,” said Sisulu.
Sisulu said apartheid laws had been removed, but the subtle racism that existed was equally devastating.
“So when Honourable Maimane makes sweeping statements about how his party has delivered, it is about white voters, white interests and not about the plight of poor black people in Masiphumelele, who are in a state of permanent emergency.
“Their shacks can burn down every day and the world goes on because, after all, it is not Bishopscourt or Bantry Bay,” said Sisulu.
“Honourable Maimane, you better listen very carefully. The DA’s success of making inroads into black society will be determined by rigorous soul searching within the party of how they have overcome the prejudices they held before the dawn of freedom.
“Deal with the vestiges of the past in your party; only then can you hope to survive the tide of angry young people.”
Sisulu said the young people were angry that they were still in the grip of a racially untransformed society.
“For the rest of your party, you will never know the pain of racial discrimination. At best, you can only imagine it. We know it; we have lived it through it and from across there we see the sneers that tell us you are not over your past.
“Carefully watch old footage of your party after you returned from a negotiation with the deputy president and tell me what you see in their faces in relation to yourself. Watch it,” she said.
Sisulu concluded by saying white supremacy triumphs when it transforms a promising young black man, with priestly pretensions, to proclaim with pride his hatred for the president.
