Winde warning: EFF told to ‘stay away’ from Brackenfell High School

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has weighed-in on a situation that is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. The EFF has vowed to shutdown Brackenfell, after their protesters were attacked outside of a local high school. The party issued a statement on Monday, threatening ‘Senekal-like’ action – but they’ve since been issued with a warning.

EFF warned to ‘stay away’ from Brackenfell

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Winde revealed that the DA in the province had applied for an interdict against the EFF, in the hope that they will be legally restricted from going near Brackenfell High School:

“What happened yesterday was illegal. The group had no permit to march, and we have filed an interdict against them. The violence which happened outside this school is unacceptable and we need to see more arrests. It can’t be tolerated…”

“I particularly want to call on the EFF to not continue with their plans to escalate the situation in Brackenfell, as announced in their statement. As a political organisation, this escalation is not the leadership that SA needs right now. We’d like them to stay away from the outside of the school to avoid further confrontations.”

Alan Winde

EFF ‘Nazi comparison’ sees sparks fly

Winde’s response was certainly more measured in comparison to that of his colleagues. Bonginkosi Madikizela, the leader of the DA in the Western Cape, caused outrage by comparing the EFF to Nazis on Monday. However, he has since chosen to double-down on his claims, with remarks that have already been branded ‘hurtful and insensitive’

“The Nazis in Germany didn’t start by killing the Jews, they started the same way that the EFF has been behaving. If we are not careful and if we allow the EFF to break the law with impunity, we will end up in the same situation.”

Bonginkosi Madikizela

Brackenfell High School: A matter of privacy?

Provincial Minister (MEC) for Education Debbie Schafer also copped some heat, after Tweeting her opinions on the matter:

So if you have a private party and invite one race only that is racial discrimination? https://t.co/iuEsqDdhHM

— Debbie Schafer (@DebbieSchafer) November 10, 2020

The politician did, however, clear up her remarks on Tuesday morning. She says that Brackenfell High School ‘cannot be held responsible’ for what happened at a private function – but if the faculty had any involvement, the situation may change:

“It does indeed appear that only white people attended the function, but it is not true that people were excluded because they were black as many white people also weren’t invited. It was a private event and we are not going to force people to have diversity quotas in a private function. If it was organised by the school, that is a different matter.“

Debbie Schafer