Mcebo Dlamini apologises for anti-Semitic comments

Former Wits SRC President Mcebo Dlamini has apologised for anti-Semitic comments he made in 2015, saying he “should have known better”.

“It is only in retrospective (sic) that I began to appreciate how my statements were both ill-advised and, to a certain extent, dangerous because they ignored the kind of trauma that they caused,” he said on Monday.

“As someone who is interested in politics and how it can be used to advance a better world for all, I should have known better”.

Dlamini was speaking at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre, following a meeting with the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).

The SAJBD lodged a formal complaint against Dlamini with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in 2015.

In April that year, Dlamini took to Facebook and wrote: “I love Adolf Hitler”.

Then two months later, during a live interview on PowerFM in June 2015, he said of Jewish people:

“They are devils. They are good for nothing. They are hypocritical‚ just like [then Wits University Vice-Chancellor] Adam Habib. They are uncircumcised in heart”.

On Monday, however, a contrite Dlamini said he had been on a “journey” since then.

“My journey has made me appreciate that I was wrong and there is no possible excuse for what I said and there can be no way to reverse how it affected others,” he said – adding he was, however, now committed to learning about the Jewish history and culture and even hoped to visit Israel one day.

Dlamini also recognised he was, at the time of his comments, in a position of influence and described his comments as “an abuse of power”.

“I highly regret using the platform that I had at the time in such a harmful way, the way I acted was undoubtedly an abuse of power,” he said.

“I have also been made aware that my statements were anti-Semitic, which is a form of racism. As someone who grew up in South Africa and was/still is affected by the vestiges of apartheid I should have been more sensitive to that”.

The SAJBD has welcomed Dlamini’s apology, with vice president Zev Krengel saying yesterday that it was clear he was “truly remorseful”.

“The sincerity with which he acknowledged the hurt that he caused our community was palpable,” Krengel said.

“His recognition that the statements were anti-Semitic, hurtful and offensive, together with his genuine apology, enables us to heal from the hurt he caused. It is important for us as a community, and as South Africans, to identify when genuine remorse is expressed. It is equally important for us to accept a sincere apology of this nature as it enables us to move forward.”

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