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Mcebo Dlamini. (Images Gallo / Foto24 / Felix Dlangamandla)
- Fees Must Fall leader Mcebo Dlamini has apologized for his 2015 comments that discredited Jews.
- In an apology provided by the South African Human Rights Commission between the South African Board of Jewish Deputies (SAJBD) and Dlamini, he said he should have known better.
- He promised to learn more about the history of the Jewish and Israeli people, in the apology that was accepted by the SAJBD.
Fees Must Fall leader Mcebo Dlamini has apologized to the South African Board of Jewish Deputies (SAJBD) for their disparaging remarks about the Jewish people.
In a written apology, Dlamini said he should have known better when he made the comment in 2015 in a public speech, vowing to learn more about Jewish and Israeli history, including taking a trip to Israel if he has funds.
The apology was mediated by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which called Dlamini’s apology curative.
The SAJBD said it always tries to take a restorative approach and found Dlamini’s apology to be regretful and sincere.
Dlamini had made the derogatory comments during a public speech in 2015.
Dlamini told News24: “It’s a sincere apology, and I’m really sorry.
“And I’m really relieved that the apology was accepted. It was a burden that I wasn’t willing to die with.”
SAHRC spokesman Buang Jones said the discussions they helped mediate were “… sincere and genuine.”
“Seeing it end this way was very rewarding for us because we want to see a cohesive partnership,” Jones said.
The talks included a tour of the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Center.
He said anti-Semitism is a problem around the world and that most of the complaints the commission receives center on racism.
READ | Dlamini in hot water again for ‘Jews are demons’ comment
He said that most people subscribe to non-racism and non-sexism, but there is still a minority of South Africans who do not.
It was also significant that he accepted that his comments dehumanized and delegitimized people’s pain.
He said that Dlamini had made a commitment to learn more about the Jewish and Israeli people through various programs, and his final opinions after obtaining information would be up to him.
SAJBD Vice President Zev Krengel said in a statement: “The sincerity with which he acknowledged the pain he caused to our community was palpable.
“… This understanding led him to make an unequivocal apology. His acknowledgment that the statements were anti-Semitic, hurtful and offensive, along with his genuine apology, allows us to heal ourselves from the pain it 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 allows us to move on.”
An excerpt from Dlamini’s apology to the SAJBD read:
It was only in hindsight that I began to appreciate how misleading my statements were and to some extent dangerous because they were ignorant of the type of trauma they caused.
“As someone who is interested in politics and how it can be used to promote a better world for all, I should have known better.
“But consciousness is not something you miraculously arrive at, you travel [towards]. My journey has made me understand that I was wrong and that there is no possible excuse for what I said and there is no way to reverse how it affected others.
“However, what I can do is supplement my apology with actions as a testimony that I am truly sorry.
“… I have thought deeply about the type of leader I want to be and he is definitely not a leader who spreads hatred and rejoices in the misfortunes of others.”
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