The mayor of Moqhaka municipality in the Free State, Motloheloa Mokatsane has landed himself in hot water, after he was caught on camera calling the black residents the K-word. In a video making circulation on social media, Mokatsane can be seen addressing the residents who gathered outside the Viljoenskroon Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Mokatsane was addressing his constituents about crime levels within the area and recent reported incidents of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). While addressing the residents and conveying his frustration the mayor referred to black criminals using the k-word, while trying to state that some locals ‘were born to commit crime’, given their socio-economic status.
“Crime is what we were to do as k****s… [audience murmured]- Let me put it in a better way. We as black people are violent because we suffer violence on a daily basis. That is why I use this work, because it’s a reality we face every day.”
The mayor changed his tune when he realised that the residents were not happy with his use of the k-word when referring to black people. The k-bomb was dropped and there was no going back.
Dika Kheswa, Maqhaka municipality spokesperson said the mayor was not attacking any racial group, that he was ‘only using a figure of speech’ during his address to the residents.
He said: “The mayor wholeheartedly retracts the use of the k-word and the offence this might have caused to the entire community. The mayor wishes to apologise to the residents of Moqhaka and the country at large.”
Source: News24, Times Live, The South African, image from Twitter