DA demands apology for antisemitism in Joburg council

The leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Johannesburg City Council this week demanded that the mayor secure an urgent public apology from a council member following his antisemitic tirade in chambers targeting DA councillor Daniel Schay.

DA caucus leader Councillor Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku sent an official letter to Executive Mayor Dada Sello Morero on Monday, 17 March, calling for Tebogo Nkonkou, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Development, to apologise to Johannesburg and in particular the Jewish community within seven days.

Echeozonjoku wrote the letter after witnessing an ugly display of antisemitism in council chambers on 13 March during the same session which included a failed motion by the DA to rescind the renaming of Sandton Drive after known terrorist Leila Khaled.

Schay, who wears a yarmulke and a blue-and-white tie featuring a Star of David, was subjected to verbal abuse from fellow councillors, who objected to the Israeli-South African flag and white peace dove sticker on his laptop. Schay said he was repeatedly interrupted during his speech by Councillor Tefo Raphadu, who objected to the graphics on Schay’s laptop. Then in a particularly vile outburst, Pan African Congress of Azania councillor Nkonkou invoked Adolf Hitler’s name, reportedly chanting, “We want Hitler!” Then, an Economic Freedom Fighters back bencher Alfred Telekoa also chimed in, followed by loud chants of “Free, Free Palestine!”

Nkonkou escalated the hostility by threatening to attend the next council meeting wearing a T-shirt featuring Hitler’s face.

This was the last straw for Echeozonjoku. “I cannot tolerate racist or religious intolerance. It’s unacceptable,” she told the SA Jewish Report this week. “That is what we fought against during apartheid. Those days are supposed to be over, and now we face this all over again in council. We are the lawmakers, we are supposed to be above discrimination.”

In her letter, Echeozonjoku pointedly told the mayor that it was a reflection on his own leadership that Nkonkou “continues to hold his position despite his blatantly racist, racially intolerant, and antisemitic views”.

She went on to say, “It was an absolute travesty to witness Nkonkou engage in what can only be described as an antisemitic tirade during a council session, with the world watching via a live feed.

“This included a deeply concerning reference to Adolf Hitler in response to a Jewish councillor’s speech. Such comments are not only wholly inappropriate, but are harmful to the very fabric of our diverse city,” she wrote.

“It is infuriating and so disappointing that we have people of this calibre, who are meant to be the leaders of society, voted into council,” Schay said. “Even worse, this type of person becomes an executive in the city – Councillor Nkonkou sits on the mayoral executive team! It’s disappointing that such morally compromised individuals are thrust into positions of power in Johannesburg.”

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) condemned the remarks against Schay as a blatant act of antisemitic intimidation.

“For an elected public representative to invoke Hitler – a figure synonymous with genocide and the systematic extermination of six million Jews – as a means of threatening a Jewish councillor is despicable and deeply offensive,” the organisation said.

The SAJBD called on the City of Johannesburg to take disciplinary action against the councillors involved, stressing that such rhetoric wasn’t just morally reprehensible but in direct violation of democratic values.

However, according to Echeozonjoku, this was just the tip of the iceberg of Nkonkou’s behaviour in council. “In his position of community development, he is meant to be bringing people together, creating social cohesion, not forging divisions and abusing people,” she said.

To the mayor, she said that there had been numerous instances were Nkonkou described fellow councillors as “colonialists” and “settlers”, which she said had been documented.

She went on to say that as “a daughter of the Khoi, who grew up in Tsitsikamma, I know firsthand what it means to be marginalised and singled out because of my race, being called ‘hotnot’ or ‘malau’ during apartheid.” Because of this, she said, she could not in good conscience watch “racial and religious intolerance” happen and stay silent.

“This isn’t about defending Schay because he’s Jewish. I would stand up for anyone who is being treated badly because they look or believe something different. I don’t care whether they are Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, it doesn’t matter,” she said.

However, according to Echeozonjoku, Nkonkou’s intolerance hasn’t just had an impact on individuals, it may have affected the debate over the renaming of Sandton Drive to honour terrorist and plane hijacker Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

“His further resistance to accountability measures, such as the delayed release of a forensic audit investigating a controversial street-renaming petition, raises significant concerns about his commitment to transparency and governance,” she wrote.

Echeozonjoku went on to say that Nkonkou had also “actively obstructed key oversight responsibilities essential for transparency and good governance”.

By allowing such behaviour to persist within his committee, it “sends a disconcerting message about our collective stance against racism and discrimination”, she wrote.

She assured the mayor that should Nkonkou fail to apologise, it would “leave the DA with no choice but to explore all or any avenues available to it within the framework of the law” to deal with it.

“The countdown has begun,” said Echeozonjoku. She has been notified that the mayor’s office has received her letter and is studying the contents.

“In the meantime, I am getting the legal task team I have put together in the caucus to look at whether the next step is the Human Rights Commission or what our options are,” she said.