FF Plus FUMING over apartheid poster, says it ‘incites violence’

Freedom Front Plus is outraged over an apartheid poster in the 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria, saying it incites violence. The poster is meant to raise awareness about violence in the country.

But the party believes the poster, placed on the second floor of the hospital, is racist as it attributes blame for the violence in the country to apartheid.

Freedom Front Plus (FF+) leader Pieter Groenewald said in part about the poster: “The poster’s message, with sketches to illustrate, begins by saying that people’s circumstances during the apartheid years led to ‘anger and violence’ because their human rights were violated. It goes on saying people had poor medical facilities, not enough food and clean drinking water and that they suffered under police and army violence.”

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FREEDOM FRONT PLUS TO WRITE TO DEFENCE MINISTER

Freedom Front Plus now intends writing to Defence Minister Thandi Modise, asking that the poster be removed from 1 Military Hospital.

Groenewald says apartheid is often being blamed by government for a number of social problems and lack of social delivery, which needs to stop.

“I take it in a serious light and will send a letter to the Minister of Defense, me. Thandi Modise, to insist that the poster be removed everywhere. We must move away from the use to place the blame for everything on apartheid due to one’s own incompetence for service delivery and numerous other social problems. There can never be any justification for violence that is also aimed at women and children in general”

Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald

The party has often faced criticism over its stance on apartheid. During an interview on SABC last year, he was asked if he thought that apartheid should be classed as a crime against humanity – to which the FF Plus leader gave a vague response.

“I don’t want to go back to apartheid. I never voted for the National Party. But we must leave history in its time. I regret the Anglo-Boer war, of course I do… but that’s also history. I do not want to go back to any of that,” Groenewald said.