JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA JULY 07: Black Land First (BLF) leader Andile Mngxitama outside the Johannesburg High Court during the case between BLF and the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) on July 07, 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The court granted Sanef an interdict against BLF. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times / […]
BLF leader Mngxitama causes national outcry over Holocaust tweet
Mngxitama has managed to cause fresh racial controversy this week. Nothing seems to be off limits as the BLF leader poked fun at the Holocaust.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA JULY 07: Black Land First (BLF) leader Andile Mngxitama outside the Johannesburg High Court during the case between BLF and the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) on July 07, 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The court granted Sanef an interdict against BLF. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times / […]
Black First Land First leader Andile Mngxitama may have been a bit quiet over the last few weeks, on Thursday though, he managed to send many South Africans into fury with just one tweet.
Mngxitama tweeted about the holocaust early on Thursday morning, while we initially thought it was sarcasm relating to Helen Zille’s tweets on colonialism, his tweet was quickly called out by The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).
https://twitter.com/Mngxitama/status/900558350131367937
SAJBD’s national director Wendy Kahn labelled the tweet “demeaning and hurtful” in a statement.
“With this ugly‚ jeering remark‚ Mngxitama has portrayed not just the deliberate murder of Jewish people but even the supposed reduction of their remains to everyday objects as something to be treated as a joke.
“It is deeply distressing that anyone could so casually and publicly dehumanise an entire people in this way. How much more outrageous it is when emanating from a public figure who heads up a political voice.”
Kahn said the reference to Jews in the Holocaust showed “outright contempt for basic humanitarian‚ non-racial values‚ together with a complete lack of compassion for human suffering.”
“His overtly hateful tweet is a flagrant attack on the fundamental rights to dignity and equality of Jewish South Africans and should be strongly condemned by all in our country. Civilised society‚ and certainly South Africa with its stained history of human rights abuses‚ has no place for those who condone the merciless massacre of millions of innocent people in the most cruel way.”
The SAJBD says they are reviewing their options in terms of what action to take against Mngxitama.
