The ANC Western Cape says it is vindicated by its position that the DA only put up a smoke screen around the suspension of Dianne Kohler Barnard in order to eventually absolve her.

The African National Congress (ANC) in Parliament is threatening to find other ways of punishing Kohler Barnard after the Democratic Alliance (DA) lifted her expulsion on Tuesday.

The former DA shadow minister for police caused an uproar after she shared a post on Facebook which said service delivery in South Africa was better during apartheid.

ANC Western Cape Chairperson Marius Fransman says that his party has always maintained that the DNA of the DA is racist and that it longs back to the years of Apartheid.

“The DA is fundamentally trying to ensure white enrichment; so we (ANC) are not shocked, it actually tells us that the DA is harbouring real racists,” Fransman said.

He added that DA leader Mmusi Maimane and Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille actually has no say in the running of the DA.

“Patricia took this issue up and said Dianne must go and she lost that fight, there is no question about that,” Fransman continued.

Kohler-Barnard successfully appealed her expulsion yesterday. She will remain an MP, on condition that she isn’t found guilty of a similar offence for the duration of the fifth Parliament. Kohler Barnard will also have to resign from elected positions within the party and pay a R20,000 fine to an NGO that aids people who were negatively affected by the Apartheid system.

The Congress of the People (COPE) has also added their voice to the issue. Dennis Bloem from COPE said that Kohler Barnard inflicted severe damage on her party and magnified the criticism that the DA was still steeped in the apartheid ideology.

Fransman also added that the DA cannot unshackle themselves from the past and that they have embraced PW Botha’s sentiments.

Fransman says that when an issue like this had arisen in the ANC, they dealt with it as they believe that they cannot build a new democracy on the back on racist cultures.

“We were founded on the principle of non-racialism; you can’t have a leader from any political party saying that it was better to live under Apartheid,” Fransman stated.

“We should never want to embrace the legacy of the past.” VOC