EFF condemns image of Mkhwebane as an ‘evil Eve’ influenced by the ‘serpent’

In a statement on Saturday night, the EFF said the recent Financial Mail magazine cover questioning whether Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane may be an enemy of the state was an “outrightly racist and sexist attack”.

Party spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi alleged that the cover that saw her stylised with ochre lips on a purple background of snakes was tapping into Judeo-Christian tropes of evil in the Garden of Eden, with Eve lumped with the blame for the fall of humanity from grace.

The party said there was nothing wrong with questioning Mkhwebane’s work, but to call her an enemy of the state and subtly suggest she was involved in “evil, witchcraft and the dark forces of evil” was taking it too far.

He slammed the publication for allegedly being guilty of society’s generalised masculine, patriarchal violence against black women as a way to attack Mkhwebane for her investigations of the “untouchables”, the “favourite agents of white monopoly capital”.

Ndlozi alleged that the Financial Mail was a “pro-white capitalist, white male-edited publication”.

“Indeed a black woman in our country is an enemy of the state (God). No wonder there is so much masculine and patriarchal driven violence on her, her image, her body, her sexuality, and her intelligence.”

He called for South Africans to unite against the “caricature”.

“It does not matter whether Adv Mkhwebane is right or wrong, nothing justifies such a hateful characterisation of her person.”

The party said she was being targeted for going after the powerful, particularly those allegedly representing the interest of “white monopoly capital”, such as Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.

The party echoed Mkhwebane’s sentiments on Friday that she was being targeted in a campaign in a similar way to the one once used against the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) also criticised this week’s cover page of the Financial Mail.

The council said in a statement on Friday that the characterisation of Mkhwebane had been distasteful and seriously undermined the dignity of her office.

“This politics of personal attacks is not right,” said SACC general secretary Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana. “Whether you agree or disagree with her work, you have to respect the office of the Public Protector and accord its dignity.”

In a tweet on Friday afternoon, Mkhwebane shared a video clip from a documentary about Strategic Communications (Stratcom), which used the media in the late 1980s and early 1990s to discredit Madikizela-Mandela in a “dirty tricks campaign”.

“Lest we forget how #WinnieMadikizelaMandela was treated by stratcom, Mama I am subjected to the same treatment and my family is also terrorized including my 89 year old mother. Aluta continue #ifIperishIperish #HappyWomenMonth,” wrote Mkhwebane.

The public protector has had a torrid few weeks, with the country’s courts slamming her judgments, the president of the country questioning her understanding of the law and numerous critics questioning her competence.

The EFF, which has strongly supported Mkhwebane’s recent reports against Gordhan and President Cyril Ramaphosa, has also drawn parallels between Stratcom, Madikizela-Mandela and the treatment Mkhwebane. The EFF in any event generally refers to the private media in the country as “Stratcom”, particularly whenever unflattering news reports about the party appear.

Mkhwebane was referencing the massive post-1990 security police operation designed to discredit Winnie, which was initially revealed by former police “dirty tricks” operative Paul Erasmus, and, later, others.

Erasmus admitted that a blend of fact and fiction was leaked by the apartheid government to local and international media on Madikizela-Mandela’s alleged marital infidelity, and her alleged criminal activities with her Mandela Football Club and on the death of teenage activist Stompie, among other scandals.

Stratcom no longer exists in any official form and the label is now used as a generalised slur against the media.

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