Deputy Speaker, the three in question were fired. [Applause.] [Interjections.] [Laughter.]
The IFP condemns in the strongest terms the racist utterances that have emanated from a group calling itself the Mazibuye African Forum.
Our attempts to give true meaning to our rainbow nation were dealt another blow with a series of anti-Indian comments and articles that surfaced recently, which effectively warned South African Indians to vacate this country.
These remarks came in the wake of the Guptagate scandal and must be seen within that context. The problem, however, remains one in which an entire segment of a population is blamed for the possible actions of a few.
Mr Phumlani Mfeka made comments like the following, when he stated, and I quote:
Africans do not regard Indians as their brethren and thus the ticking time bomb of a deadly confrontation between the two communities looms.
Comments like this one sow nothing but hurt and division. Quite coincidentally, we will be considering amendments to the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Bill later, while the forum still suggests that, and I quote: "Africans are excluded from equitable participation in our economy."
In a statement following a meeting with the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Executive Committee, PEC, delegation, the forum stated, and I quote:
We shall by no means remain silent when we see that the key criterion determining a citizen's life chances economically and otherwise is in favour of Indians in KwaZulu-Natal, in particular.
This assertion is far from the truth. And as the IFP, we believe that if there are specific cases where certain people have been unduly or unfairly enriched by the state, we will have to deal with that. Thank you.