Right white attempt to sabotage food relief efforts in Hermanus

It has been a pleasure over the last week to see people joining the Food4Love movement at this very difficult time in our country. People with passion, determination and love working together in an effort to assist others in need.

There are NGO’s, community organisations, individuals, friends and foes who are working very hard together with councillors and Disaster Management to not only feed people from all over Hermanus, but to give one another strength and to get things done despite any differences.

LAND Party believes that this Food4Love movement which has brought people together and is managing to make a big difference to dealing with this epidemic at a grassroots level has, in fact, created a blueprint that could be used across South Africa.

However, members of the Whale Coast Business Forum are, as usual, intent on promoting divisiveness. In doing so they are undermining the efforts of every single person who has made it possible for hundreds of people to receive food every day for the last 5 days. It should be noted that members of this organisation are constantly trying to derail any progress the greater Hermanus community makes as well as sew racial division.

• During the protests of 2018 they were the only organisation who were not prepared to sit around a table when Hermanus was burning.

• When various communities from all over the Overstrand held a peaceful march in December 2018 they, along with Afriforum, ensured that the right-wing vlogger, Willem Petzer, was there. They have consistently used Willem Petzer and fed him lies to try and discredit our community and our leadership with propaganda.

• The agenda that they have pushed at Schulphoek stakeholder meetings over the 18 months is racist and full of self-interest.

• When the Zwelihle community marched to present businesses that were allegedly employing non-nationals over locals this same business forum, again, would not sit around a table like everyone else.

In addition to this, over the last two years, many of their members have spent copious amounts of time in Facebook groups slandering the Land Party, its leaders, its constituents and the good people of Zwelihle in their private groups. We are aware that the racists feel the presence of the LAND Party in our region and do not like it. The LAND Party is here to stay and these racists are breathing through the wound. As a party we encourage our members not to entertain such racists or engage with them on social media. Our policy is to ignore them.

However, at a time like this when communities are working together and building bridges, Whale Coast Community and Business Forum members have chosen to take to social media and sew division in order to sabotage the relief efforts of the greater Hermanus community. They are putting the relief efforts at risk. Relief efforts that they themselves may have to call on in a week or so’s time.

This particular post was allowed on a group called Hermanus Uncut which was started by an Afriforum member who is one of the most vocal Afriforum racists in Hermanus. He in fact places our member's personal details all over the internet under various fake accounts he holds.

Afriforum and the Whale Coast Business Forum are one and the same in Hermanus. They have consistently shown that they are opposed to any integration whatsoever. And here they are doing it again. These are the people that the Chief Leader of the Land Party was referring to in his statement that they have now twisted into a meme intent to break things apart. We can assure you that no member of the community is receiving food parcels from these racists.

LAND Party urges all citizens of Hermanus who are working together as a community to help fellow citizens in need to ignore the drivel these people come up with and focus on the amazing things that you and the Food4Love movement are doing.

LAND Party would also like to thank every single person who is serving their community for the solidarity they are showing. It gives us great hope for a peaceful future for Hermanus.

Salute!

END