ANT KATZ

The SABC Afrikaans radio channel “Radio Sonder Grense” ran a news item on all it’s early morning bulletins today (Friday), saying that the student body Cosas, has suspended the member who last week placed a pig’s head in the kosher (in fact, it was the halaal) section of a Woolworths store in Cape Town. The event led to numerous complaints from the Jewish and Muslim communities, said RSG.

And yet Cosas’ Western Cape provincial executive committee members, chairman Siphakamise Ngxowa and secretary Siphelo Makeleni, had published a statement on POLITICSWEB yesterday (Thursday October 30) making it quite clear that the “Pigs’ Head Campaign against Woolworths Pigs,” was not only going to continue, but intensify!

They also said that an unnamed “Jewish person” had donated 10 pigs’ heads for the furtherance of their campaign. Cosas indignantly maintained they were no clowns, but their actions seemed  to belie the fact.

All of this is taking place despite the SA Jewish Board of Deputies having lodged a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission against the perpetrators of the incident on Wednesday.

Yesterday’s news

The POLITICSWEB statement, verbatim, reads:

Cosas continues in head campaign against Woolworths Pigs

Woolworths has not stopped its aggression towards Palestine and the supporters of Palestine. Instead of stopping supporting the murder of Palestinian Children, Woolworths bosses continue in a racist and arrogant support of Israeli Apartheid, insulting peaceful anti-Israeli Apartheid activists. We are angry that Woolworths does not respect our demands and the demands that thousands of South Africans have made. Woolworths and their corporate bosses are unwilling to stop supporting Israel. We will be increasing our efforts to expose Woolworths, we are not happy with what Woolworths are doing – it is outrageous.

Cosas is not a clown organisation, we are a very serious powerful group of young people.

We will not waste time talking about the lies that we don’t like Jewish people or Muslim people, we have no problem with people of all religions – they are our comrades. If Pig’s heads, food our people eat, insults people they must explain why they are not insulted by the murder of Palestinian children.

There is no pigs’ head scandal, the scandal is the pigs that head Woolworths and continue to support Apartheid Israel. Cosas will implement our campaign to bring Woolworths the pigs and if the pigs campaign is unsuccessful, we will consider more radical and militant actions to ensure that Woolworths learns to be humble towards the masses and our demands.

The suspended member in a tweet sent out by ANC_branch

Since we informed the public of our intentions, we have received many messages of support from Jewish and Muslim people – in fact there is already a donation for the next ten pigs heads (by a Jewish person, who chose to remain anonymous).

Despite this support there were several counter-revolutionary, Zionist and racist attempts to silence us. People tried to intimidate us and to divide us, but Cosas Western Cape are (sic!) more united than ever before. The messages sent to our provincial chairperson Cde Siphakamise Ngxowa, such as the following Facebook messages “You Kaffir dog, I will bite your balls off’ another ‘Hey boy you have AIDS” both from Sharon O’coonors will not scare us in our radical campaign against the disgusting pigs at Woolworths.

To show the heads of Woolworths that we are serious will soon be holding a press conference on the street outside the Woolworths headquarters, with several pig’s heads that are heading towards their stores this week.

So why this, then?

The Radio Sonder Grense (RSG) news bulletin, verbatim off their website, reads:

Die studenteliggaam, Cosas, het ‘n lid geskors wat verlede week ‘n varkkop in die Kosher afdeling van ‘n Woolworths-winkel in Kaapstad gesit het. Die optrede het gelei tot talle klagtes uit die Joodse en Moslem gemeenskappe. Cosas se adjunk-president, Tshepo Louw sê die voorval is betreurenswaardig. Hy sê dit was nie op spesifieke gemeenskappe gerig nie, maar is deel van hulle boikot-veldtog teen Woolworths, om die kleinhandelaar te dwing om bande met Israelse verskaffers te verbreek.

Members of the Cape Town Jewish community protesting
outside the Woolies store in Sea Point yesterday