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The DA strongly condemns the violence and vandalism of retail stores in Johannesburg by EFF supporters over a racist advert.

While we fully agree that racism is oppressive and has no place in a democratic South Africa, inciting violence and acts of destruction to property must be equally condemned.

The EFF must be held accountable for all the damages incurred as a result of this deplorable vandalism and EFF leader, Julius Malema, must pay back the money for all damages incurred and compensate the employees who had to put in more hours clearing the mess. Trashing of stores cannot be condoned as it does not begin to topple the real elephant in the room – racism.

This violent act clearly shows that the EFF is not genuine in their solidarity with the employees who now might face possible job losses in a country that is grappling with high rates of unemployment and stagnant economy.

There are other effective and non-violent ways to fight institutional racism and destruction of property doesn’t even begin to solve the problem but compounds it.

The type of disruptive behaviour displayed by the EFF is not the kind of approach we can use to express our disgust over racism. We must fervently resist justifying violent conduct disguised as a tool to fight racism which is still present in our society.

The EFF leadership must be held accountable for inciting their members to trash stores. It is acts like these that expose the EFF for what they truly are – short-sighted with no solutions for the issues facing South Africa today.

Issued by DA