Cape Town - Former Kannaland municipal manager Keith Jordaan has justified his sharing of a video of a white man putting his head in a bag of charcoal to blacken his face on social media, saying he did so to “condemn” such racism.
The video, captioned “getting ready for my new job interview”, has been shared widely on social media, and has drawn sharp criticism for its message.
The EFF in the Western Cape has since called on the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to probe the matter.
But Jordaan said he simply shared the video on his WhatsApp status to condemn it and had no knowledge where it originated from.
Jordaan said he did not approve of the video, nor did he distribute it.
“The video is a good example of unwanted and unwelcome racial slurring, a topic I am currently addressing in several circles, to improve understanding and create tolerance, also at local government level. I think the video is shocking, and the video must be used to make clear that such behaviour cannot be tolerated in South Africa.
“I do not approve of the video; I abhor the video. I did not write the caption. I did not distribute the video in jest. Racial slurring cannot be tolerated in South Africa,” he said.
EFF spokesperson Wandile Kasibe said the video was “racist and provocative”.
“In this video the white man uses his frustration to make mockery out of black people and in so doing he recycles the colonial violence and racial stereotypes often depicted through black-face, which is in itself an anti-black racist statement.
This is not an individual or isolated case, but both a structural and endemic phenomenon whose roots could be traced back to colonialism where black people would be depicted in a negative light and blackness portrayed as an aberration.
Racists like Jordan have become emboldened in this province and now have the audacity to display such nauseating anti-black racism with an intention to undermine the human dignity of black people.
“We call on the SAHRC to investigate this matter and we also call on the residents of the province to publicly condemn this antiblack racist act,“ said Kasibe.
South African Communist Party (SACP) Central Karoo District spokesperson Mawonga Furmen said they will be lodging a complaint with the SAHRC.
“The video is clearly proof that we are still having many white people who are dead-set on racially dividing this country and are undermining the hard-earned democracy which thousands of people paid for with their lives and limbs.
“Sharing this video is promoting the existing agenda of wanting to ensure the country remains on a racial edge,“ said Furmen.
The SAHRC said it would assess the matter once it had received a formal complaint.
Cape Times