Dr Nora Saneka
DR NORA Saneka of the Active Citizens Movement (ACM) criticised Mayor Cyril Xaba's recent comments regarding civil society humanitarian activist Yeshelen Govender, calling it racially divisive and a breach of ethical standards.
She said they viewed Xaba’s response to Govender as “wholly unacceptable and unbecoming of a public office holder”.
“For the ACM, this is not merely poor temperament. It is a fundamental breach of ethical standards with deeply harmful racial undertones. The mayor’s behaviour betrays an acute lack of understanding of the history and culture of non-racism that underpinned our struggle for liberation, an intolerance of engagement with the public he is meant to serve, and a complete lack of accountability as a public servant. These attributes are unbefitting of the office of the “first citizen” of eThekwini.”
Saneka said Xaba’s assertion that Govender, a South African citizen with impeccable credentials as a human rights activist, is “not an African” is factually wrong and constitutionally indefensible.
