Nokulunga Primrose Sonti (53) of Marikana is the widow of a miner who was killed in the mine strike of 2012. She used to live in a shack made from corrugated iron. Primrose never finished school and declares herself: “…unfamiliar with financial management”
Despite this, Primrose was sworn in as a full member of Parliament for the Economic Freedom Fighters. She is part of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works. For this she now receives free accommodation, flights to and from Cape Town for sessions and a salary of roundabout R80 000 per month. (The minimum wage for farm workers is roundabout R3000-00 per month, just to put it in perspective)
The only achievement Primrose has made this far was to show up in Parliament in the attire of a housemaid, apparently to show unity with the working class.
Dear Primrose,
I hope somebody will help you to read this letter and maybe somebody might even help you to respond to it. Just don’t ask your leader, Julius Malema, he wasn’t an academic giant either – he performs a lot better with a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
I really feel for you, Sisi. They did a very ugly thing in not telling you that you actually have to do something for the R80 000-00 a month. You were supposed to walk into Parliament and contribute to the governing of South Africa. Who told you to dress in your overall and headscarf? They have other people to clean and dust the place, people not earning the R80 000-00 a month. You are not supposed to do that. By the way, now that you are in solidarity with the workers, are you sharing some of that R80 000-00 a month with the people who actually clean and dust?
There is no doubt that you have a big understanding for your community and the needs of your people, but you must admit that a bit more than that is needed for the position you are in now. The “New Age” newspaper described it as “Marikana widow goes to Parliament – a fairytale”. God forbid, Primrose, you are not a princess! Julius might remind one of the frog, but you are not a fairytale princess!
So what entitles you to this seat? Julius says it was your suffering as a result of losing your hubby at Marikana. If that is the case, I could fill 10 Parliaments with the widows of Afrikaner farmers who were murdered much more brutally than your late husband – no disrespect to him.
We’ve been keeping a keen eye on your progress in Parliament. I recall the stately openings of Parliament with pomp and circumstance and dignity where order was maintained and where you spoke in a whisper because you had so much respect for the place. That went out of the window the day Mandela was sworn in as president and a half naked man dressed in animal skins and spears ran screaming and shouting into the assembly to praise the Chief to his ancestors. We were gobsmacked! From then on bad became worse…
On 14 November 2014 there was the incident between MP’s and Lindiwe Zulu about the Nkandla Committee findings. The report on News 24 on 14 November 2014 by Jan Gerber freaked us all out…Look at the picture of you! Could that be the scene in the Parliament of a so-called democratic country? ‘Ere Gods ‘ave mercy, what have done with our country?
Where were you? I’ll tell you Primrose. In all the previous sessions you did and said exactly nothing because in all probability you understood very little of what was happening in that house…but the moment a fight broke out, you were way up front! That was a habitat you could relate to! How does the Afrikaans saying go? You can dress her up….
Instead of honouring the dignity of Parliament, you were right there shouting and screaming and pointing fingers! Maybe this will make you understand why we demand self determination for our people. We want our own Parliament where there can be dignity again, because we were embarrassed at what you helped to create. It reminded one of the scene at a township shebeen on a Friday evening, the way you performed!
It is 6 months since you left your shack to enter Parliament – an opportunity that occurs in only two places: Cloud Cuckoo Land and South Africa (oh wait, is there a difference?) You and your colleagues’ only achievement in all this time was to behave as if Parliament was the shack. For pity’s sake, just give us an indication of what we can expect from you for the next 4 years, because, hard as it is to admit, your membership of Parliament is an entertainment for which one usually has to purchase a ticket! But it is a scary entertainment, because as God is my witness, I tremble with anxiety at the thought that you might help to decide on the wellbeing of my people!
By Daniel Lötter (Front National)
South Africa Today – South Africa News
