EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has sparked a fierce debate online after questioning late former president Nelson Mandela's legacy and what it means to South Africans.
On Tuesday, Ndlozi weighed in on a Power 98.7 report about Mandela.
“What exactly do we gain by remembering Mandela? In what way does it help us confront white supremacy?” he asked.
“How does it help black people earn respect and dignity in the eyes of whites on farms? Why cling to a memory that renders blacks into docility in the face of white supremacy?”
'What exactly do we gain by remembering him?' EFF's Ndlozi questions Nelson Mandela's legacy
EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has sparked a fierce debate online after questioning late former president Nelson Mandela's legacy and what it means to South Africans.
On Tuesday, Ndlozi weighed in on a Power 98.7 report about Mandela.
“What exactly do we gain by remembering Mandela? In what way does it help us confront white supremacy?” he asked.
“How does it help black people earn respect and dignity in the eyes of whites on farms? Why cling to a memory that renders blacks into docility in the face of white supremacy?”
According to Ndlozi, Mandela wasted 27 years that “resulted in an empty reconciliation deal”.
“I’ve heard of 9 wasted years ... I think the truly wasted years are the 27 years that resulted in an empty reconciliation deal. In Mandela’s memory, blacks are silenced in the false hope to appeal to the morality of whites. It will be 27 years next, that morality is nowhere,” he said.
He claimed Mandela never understood the “racism problem”.
“Mandela once said he fought against black domination ... this was at the height of apartheid, nogal. Where in the world have black people dominated as 'blacks'? By definition, to be 'black' meant to be under white subjugation,” said Ndlozi.
Ndlozi's statement drew mixed reaction on social media, with many saying Mandela sacrificed a lot “to confront the brutal apartheid regime”. Others said Ndlozi was entitled to his opinion about Mandela.