Controversy: Atholl Trollip Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu Controversy: Atholl Trollip Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu
It is usually the likes of Julius Malema that anger the Afrikaner community, but now DA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip may find himself before the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Equality Court after referring to National Ratepayers Association of SA chairman Jaap Kelder as an “a***hole” and “the reincarnation of the AWB, KP, FF+ and Nazi”.
The Pro-Afrikaanse Asksiegroup (Praag) yesterday said it had laid a charge of hate speech against Trollip with the commission.
This follows an e-mail accidentally sent by Trollip to Kelder.
The e-mail read: “Please answer this A***hole (Kelder) once and for all, deal with the Afrikaner issue that he raises and tell him to stop masquerading as a ratepayer organisation, especially if he is the reincarnation of the AWB, KP, FF+, NAZI. Stuur die IDIOOT in Sy moer asseblief (Send the idiot to his end please). Athol.”
Trollip had intended to send the e-mail to his colleague, DA MP Annette Steyn, but instead accidentally e-mailed it to Kelder.
Dan Roodt, the director of Praag, said Trollip’s comments were disparaging of all Afrikaners.
The saga followed Mazibuko’s statements in Parliament during the rural development and land reform budget vote last week.
Kelder sent a letter to the DA requesting clarity on its land reform stance, which prompted Trollip to ask Steyn to respond, but he sent his e-mail request to Kelder and not to Steyn.
Trollip said he was not proud of his language, but was “not sorry for identifying him for what he is… It wasn’t supposed to go to the whole country. I wanted to send it to Annette Steyn, but I sent it to Jaap, who sent it to the whole country.”