Nigerian men know how to take care of women – DA

Bloemfontein – The DA federal deputy chairperson Makashule Gana has called on South African men to “provide” properly for women, rather than lash out at non-nationals for “stealing” women away.

Gana, one of three DA deputy federal chairs and a candidate in the running next month for DA federal chair, was speaking at a small DA rally against xenophobia at Constitution Hill, where other provincial leaders, including John Moodey, also spoke.

Gana urged the crowd to spread the message of not taking part in xenophobic attacks to “our wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, makhwaphenis [secret lovers], neighbours and brothers”.

He said: “We cannot be held ransom by people who commit acts of xenophobia. Let’s isolate these criminals who are doing these acts in our name.”

He also urged South Africans to look at themselves and not blame non-nationals for stealing their jobs when these jobs didn’t exist in the first place.

“Go and start a spaza shop,” said Gana.

He also said some South Africans blamed foreigners for taking their girlfriends, but they didn’t even have the courage to go and speak to a woman.

“Men, if you want a woman, you must speak up for yourselves. Nigerian men know how to speak up for themselves and they can provide for women.”

South African men should also provide well for their women, Gana said, to applause and laughter from the 200-strong crowd.

“So if you also want a woman, you must speak up. Don’t go around killing people because they took charge,” he said.

Moodey told the crowd the enemy weren’t the foreigners, but things like load shedding and rising costs.

“Our streets are overrun with criminality and our young people are calling foreigners the enemy,” he said.

“If we had the opportunities to succeed would we really make immigrants the enemy, when they have probably fled even worse circumstances?

“This debate needs to focus on the causes behind the anger that people are experiencing,” he said, which also included anger over monuments.

Moodey told City Press he was still considering whether to put his name forward as candidate for DA leader. Nominations close on Friday for the party’s congress on May 9 and 10 in Port Elizabeth.