Cape Town - The uproar caused by remarks made by Freedom Front Plus MPL Peter Marais, in which he referred to black Africans in the Western Cape as “foreigners”, has refused to die down, and Marais says he stands by what he said.
During Thursday’s sitting of the provincial legislature, Marais called for the empowerment of coloured and Khoi emerging farmers, entrepreneurs, workers and households on housing waiting lists “having to compete against numerically superior African blacks, whose influx to the Western Cape has changed the demographics, racial tensions are increasingly building up”.
His remarks caused an uproar on opposition benches. There were loud exchanges between Marais and ANC members, who alleged Marais had said black Africans in the province were foreigners “an insult of the highest order”.
ANC chief whip Pat Lekker called on speaker Daylin Mitchell to make a ruling.
Mitchell said he would have to consult Hansard before ruling. However, EFF MPL Thembile Klaas, said Marais’ comments had been made in a voice louder than normal, and the speaker must have heard them.
Leader of the opposition Cameron Dugmore said: “This is nothing but a call for a Western Cape volkstaat. The silence of the DA after Thursday’s racist comments by Marais was very telling, although not a surprise. The DA are in coalition with the Freedom Front Plus.”
He said the ANC would seek legal advice on making an application to the Equality Court about the remarks, and also planned to submit a complaint to the SA Human Rights Commission on the matter.
Meanwhile, Marais has taken to Facebook to defend himself. In a post referring to the uproar, he said: “The Khoi and Griqua peoples were here first. We are the first nation, and I stand by what I have said.”
In another comment, Marais said: “Why can black people be allowed to call white people settlers, even if they have lived here since the 17th century, but you are not allowed to call black people, who first moved to the Western Cape after 1910, aliens?”