ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay and allies protest against racism

The ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay and its alliance partners embarked on an anti-racism campaign on Tuesday.

The regional task team (RTT) was joined by members of the ANC Youth League, Women’s League, the SACP and the South African National Civic Organisation outside City Hall.

RTT convener Nceba Faku said they were demonstrating their unhappiness with the treatment black people received at the hands of police.

Faku said this was evident in how George Floyd was killed in the US.

Floyd died on May 25 and a video showing police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck went viral, resulting in outrage across the world.

Faku said: “We’re against police brutality against black and white people. But we see police brutality meted  out and more prevalent against black people and we condemn that,” he said.

“The lack of movement to address the brutality of police against black people is often associated with the ANC as the majority in government. We all want our leaders to address this.

“Can the issues with the Marikana massacre be addressed so that we can campaign without fear?”  

He highlighted that voting alone did not guarantee freedom.

“Voting alone is not a solution to everything and addressing the plight of black people.

“This means that this is a global lesson to black people that we need to be conscious that freedom should never be limited to voting alone,” Faku said.

The group stood outside City Hall holding placards that read “Down with Racism”, some in black and wearing T-shirts with Floyd’s face printed on them.

Makhi Feni, from the SACP, said the movement still wanted justice for the victims of the Marikana massacre. 

“We only have one race and that’s the human race.

“What we’re looking at is the oppression of people and fighting capitalism. If we don’t address that, we’ll continue finding ourselves here,” Feni said.

Mxolisi Mani, from Sanco, said racism had reared its head in the most developed nation in the world, creating a global movement in the fight against systemic racism.

“As South Africans we bear testimony where we’ve seen what’s been done by racism. Out of racism, we find communities where there’s poverty, rape and abuse,” he said.