Council of churches slams Malema for calling Pravin Gordhan a dog
Image: Alon Skuy
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has slammed EFF leader Julius Malema for referring to public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan as a “dog”.
Earlier this week, Malema launched a stinging attack on Gordhan, labelling him corrupt and “a dog of white monopoly capital”.
“An attack on Pravin is an attack on white monopoly capital, Pravin is a dog of white monopoly capital, we must hit the dog until the owner comes out,” Malema told a huge crowd of EFF members gathered outside the Parktown venue in Johannesburg where Gordhan was testifying before the commission of inquiry into state capture.
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The SACC general secretary, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, said while they took nothing away from Malema’s freedom of speech, they found it “unacceptable that an elected public official can call a person, whether government minister or not, a dog; especially given the connotation of such an expression in African culture”.
“Moreover, such name-calling by a popular political leader could easily incite followers to violent acts. It engenders an attitude in society that says other people do not matter. That is not Ubuntu,” Mpumlwana said.
“This kind of talk, accompanied by sabre-rattling and talk of war and possible bloodshed, on the eve of electioneering, is deeply concerning.”
Mpumlwana said the council also took issue with Malema’s trashing of the commission as a “Mickey Mouse show”.
“This is a Commission that was the recommendation of the Public Protector in the 2016 ground-breaking State of Capture report; and the whole country welcomed it and eagerly awaited its creation. We do not understand how it now becomes a Mickey Mouse show and a waste of money,” Mpumlwana said.
“We urge all South Africans to support the Zondo Commission and not have witnesses attacked and intimidated, as that will have the effect of burying the serious wrongdoings that might have been revealed in order to have recommendations for solutions that help cleanse our governmental environment.”
Mpumlwana said the council had seed Malema and the EFF standing “steadfastly against corruption, and demanding appropriate action”.
“We cannot believe that he and his party no longer want to see corrupt practices exposed in a judicial inquiry such as the Zondo Commission,” he said.
“We believe that it is in the interests of the country and all citizens that all is exposed in order to begin the healing of our State institutions; and the Ubuntu ethos and values cultivated.