CO- OPERATIVE AND POLICY ALTERNATIVE CENTRE COPAC 24 Cardiff Road, Parkwood, T Tel: + 27 11 447 1013 Johannesburg, E-mail: [email protected] South Africa, Postal Address: PO Box 1736, 2193 Killarney, 2041 TO: Mr. Lechesa Tsenoli Acting Speaker South African Parliament Honourable leaders of political parties: Rev Kenneth Meshoe, leader of ACDP Mr Vuyolwethu Zungula, leader of ATM Mr Mandla Philip Galo, leader of AIC Mr Ganief Hendricks, leader of Al Jama-ah Mr Mosiuoa Lekota, leader of COPE Mr John Steenhuisen, leader of DA Mr Julius Malema, leader of EFF Dr Pieter Groenewald, leader of FF+ Ms Patricia de Lille, leader of Good Mr Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, leader of IFP Mr Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam, NFP parliamentary leader Mr Mzwanele Nyontso, leader of PAC Mr Bantu Holomisa, leader of UDM 18 August 2021 Re: The role of Parliament in addressing the July public violence and nation building Dear Members of Parliament and Leaders, The public violence that ensued since Former President Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment in July brought South Africa to the brink of a race war, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal. The state’s failure in the province to provide safety to communities undermined the constitution. Moreover, many died (currently estimated at 337) in the looting and due to racist vigilante violence. Phoenix (estimated at 36 killed, 33 Africans and 3 Indians) and several other communities have been polarised due to such unlawful action. Trauma, suspicion and fear haunt many communities. Moreover, many of these communities have felt excluded due to high unemployment, poverty and inequality. The July violence was a spark in a powder keg of discontent. It was a tragic turning point in the history of our young democracy. South Africa needs to re-find itself and rebuild, taking on board the hard lessons from this experience. In this context, we believe Parliament is failing to play its nation building role and provide leadership in this moment of worsening crisis. In addition to the July violence the country is facing multiple crises (the Covid- COPAC is a Section 21 Not - For- P r o f i t C o m p a n y 19 pandemic, economic crisis and climate shocks) and not a single party by itself can address these challenges. It is time for non-partisan and united leadership that takes the country forward. It is now about a month since the public violence broke out and parliament has not displayed a visible and deep level of concern about the July public violence. Instead, racial stereotypes in some media, threats, social media racism and marches by political parties fanning the flames of race hatred has continued. Indians and the Phoenix community in general (of over 200 000 people) have been targets of such race hatred. A fragile and tenuous peace is prevailing. We demand the following from the South African Parliament and the parties represented there in: An urgent debate about the underlying causes and implications of the July public violence for nation building and how South Africa can overcome this challenging moment through renewing national unity and through affirming the South African constitution; A decisive oversight role of all relevant parliamentary portfolio committees to ensure communities impacted by the violence secure a just peace. Those responsible for instigating the violence, both covertly and on social media, and who perpetrated racist vigilante violence in communities like Phoenix and elsewhere must be held accountable. The Minister of Police and Commissioner must brief parliament regularly on the progress with investigations and this must be made public; Moreover, Parliament must entertain, with the seriousness it deserves, the forthcoming investigative reports of the South African Human Rights Commission into the underlying causes of the violence and the Panel established by the President to investigate the failure of the state response. Parliament must act decisively on the findings in these reports in the interests of advancing nation building and securing a just peace; A multi-party parliamentary delegation should urgently visit all communities impacted by the violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng to compliment and strengthen just peace building processes being led by communities; All political parties should stop seeking opportunistic political mileage from the trauma and suffering of communities. This is not a time for grandstanding and further racial polarisation. We are willing to meet with leaders of political parties inciting race hatred like Julius Malema and others to discuss constructive and just solutions that take the country forward. In keeping with the spirit of these demands the following petition against race hatred ( available here http://chng.it/8v8FsYGBgx) has been endorsed by over 3600 concerned people including prominent South Africans and leading activists, such as Elinor Sisulu, Ela Gandhi, Father Michael Lapsley, Mazibuko Jara, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, Bishop Rubin Phillip, Mark Heywood, Pundit Kirun Satgoor, Rosheda Muller, Ferrial Adam, Frank Chikane, Ronnie Kasrils amongst others. We look forward to your response. Signatories: Dr. Vishwas Satgar Board Chairperson Cooperative and Policy Alternative Centre 082 775 3420 Roshan Jainath Convenor Pietermaritzburg Peace Forum 082 805 5700 Yashica Padia Acting Chair Active Citizen’s Movement 083 785 5565 .