NORTH WEST. – The DA and Lex Libertas have separately announced action against Andile Mngxitama, MK parliamentary member, following his social media comments about an attack on farmer Donovan Marx, during which he was shot, stabbed and both his ears cut off. The DA will request the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate a post on X that has since been removed, while Lex Libertas has filed a formal ethics complaint with parliament.
Desiree van der Walt, DA spokesperson on agriculture, says the party will approach the national chairperson of the SAHRC in writing. The DA believes the post, attributed to Mngxitama, contains racist hate speech and justifies the mutilation of a victim in a farm attack. Mngxitama allegedly wrote that cutting off the farmer's ears is symbolic because "land thieves" refuse to listen. The DA says such statements can incite hatred and lead to further violence.
Lex Libertas has meanwhile filed a formal ethics complaint with parliament's office of the registrar of members' interests. Dr Ernst Alex Roets, executive director of the organisation, says the complaint asks for investigation of three posts by Mngxitama on X, including his remarks about the cutting off of Marx's ears and the words "No land no peace."
Lex Libertas is asking parliament to determine whether Mngxitama's conduct breached the ethical code of conduct for parliamentary members. If a breach is proven, the organisation asks for serious disciplinary steps, including suspension of at least thirty sitting days, a fine, a formal reprimand and a public apology and withdrawal of the remarks.
The DA emphasises that the Constitution protects freedom of speech, but does not provide a licence to incite violence against others. Lex Libertas says its complaint concerns Mngxitama's own public statements and does not claim that Marx's attackers had political or racist motives.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
