ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal provincial chairperson Zwakele Mncwango on Monday called on Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and Democratic Alliance (DA) member Dean Macpherson to issue a public apology to black ActionSA members for reportedly referring to them as “hobos”.

Macpherson reportedly referred to over 500 picketers as “hobbos”, claiming that ActionSA had recruited vagrants posing as party members during court proceedings in Pietermaritzburg over the eThekwini's sewage crisis.

ActionSA wants Macpherson to also extend an apology to black South Africans, with Mncwango saying that failure to make a public apology will confirm that Macpherson is racist and that his intention was to discriminate against black people.

“Whether or not this term was used with racial intent, the impact of your words cannot be separated from the painful racial history of South Africa. Referring to a group of predominantly black South Africans using a term historically associated with poverty, disposability, and social worthlessness is not only deeply offensive, but also dehumanising. In a country still grappling with the scars of apartheid, where the dignity of black people was systematically stripped for decades, language like this is more than an insult — it’s a racial affront,” Mncwango said in a letter to Macpherson.

He warned against “such language” from a Minister and a senior leader of a political party and urged Macpherson to reflect on his behaviour during the court proceedings.

“Even more troubling was your conduct during the court proceedings on Thursday. I observed you instructing black DA members to vacate their front-row seats for White and Indian members. This visible relegation of your own black colleagues raises serious questions about the racial attitudes and internal culture within your leadership style. Such actions are not only humiliating but reflective of a discriminatory mind set, which should have no place in any democratic or representative institution,” Mncwango stated.

He said even if Macpherson did not mean harm, the effect of his words and actions had caused pain and reinforced racial hierarchies.

“…dismissing ActionSA members — who are citizens, voters, and human beings — as ‘hobos’ based on their appearance or political alignment is undignified, unacceptable, and racist. It is clear that you are obsessed with ActionSA and its leadership. While I do not mind your political fixation on the party, I will never accept racism against black people in any form, whether subtle or overt,” Mncwango said.