DA’s Natasha ‘dark father’ Mazzone under Twitter fire for race comment

Deputy chairperson of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) federal executive Natasha Mazzone has come under fire for a comment she made on Twitter at the weekend.

Mazzone tweeted: “My father arrived from Naples in Italy, he was dark, and could not speak English or Afrikaans, but he was a great chef. He built himself up from nothing to make a good life for his family. I HONOUR and thank my father.”

https://twitter.com/Natasha9Mazzone/status/993074167103836161

The DA leader received backlash for suggesting that since her father “was dark”, he had not been privileged when he arrived in South Africa during the apartheid era.

….& he was forced to reside in which township or bantustan?

— Luthando.Mavume 🇿🇦 (@Luthando_Mav) May 6, 2018

…..& his movements restricted?

— Luthando.Mavume 🇿🇦 (@Luthando_Mav) May 6, 2018

…hayi you must hold it right there @Natasha9Mazzone ….. go patronise blacks there by @Our_DA …. some of us will tell you if you don’t know.

— Luthando.Mavume 🇿🇦 (@Luthando_Mav) May 6, 2018

Which entrance did your dad use here? pic.twitter.com/Cmuh9K4Lbf

— Vaxxed Tshepo 💉 (@tshepo87) May 6, 2018

Which entrance @Natasha9Mazzone was your “DARK” father using @Natasha9Mazzone, which entrance? pic.twitter.com/yPrHSxAE9A

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— Boiketlo Develops (@BoiketloZA) May 6, 2018

https://twitter.com/SebolaiMolefe/status/993159032243458048

https://twitter.com/rakadimo24/status/993168091055042560

What do you seek to imply by " he was dark?" do you mean he was "inferior white person" by apartheid standards or that he was black? You seem to confuse and conflate lot of issues mam!

— Billy Debeila (@DebeilaBilly) May 6, 2018

There is no comparison. By virtue of the fact that he was of European descent he already had privileges. He wasn't forced to live in a domicile township, didn't carry a dompas and he wasn't constantly harassed by police. Just accept that your father is/was privileged

— Nonhlanhla Radebe (@Nhla2Radebe) May 6, 2018

https://twitter.com/TumiTGP/status/993219533136650241

However, some responses to Mazzone’s comments seemed to come to her defence.

People from Mediteranean countries sometimes have more olive-complexions. Many Afrikaners used to berate them, thinking they were substandard. Many still do. Marraige between Afrikaners and Italian / Portuguese / Greek generally were frowned upon.

— Elmarie Jooste (@JoosteElmarie) May 6, 2018

But in apartheid South Africa they were still classified as white and enjoyed all the privileges.

— Mabutho Shangase Ph.D. (@NativConscience) May 7, 2018

It is possible, provided we confront the evils of apartheid for exactly what they were and how they persist in the present. Then we'd need new ideas and resources for redress. It would take time and lots of sacrifice.

— Mabutho Shangase Ph.D. (@NativConscience) May 7, 2018

If you don’t stay in South Africa you won’t understand,that 25 years it’s not enough can take up to 50 ,if you have not worked here also u won’t understand

— 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝘆 (@Masi_Balane) May 6, 2018

There are so many hospitals without medication thanks to corruption and mismanagement, there is high unemployment because pple are self preserving, some without education because they dropped out of school even though their families were better off, some unfortunately were poor

— Patrick Monkoe (@MonkoePatrick) May 6, 2018

But for people to think their future is in the hands of white people and everything going wrong in thier life is to reduce yourself into nonentity, pple should start thinking solutions and otherwise no one will ever assist, government providing environment for people to assist it

— Patrick Monkoe (@MonkoePatrick) May 6, 2018

https://twitter.com/BevaShaps/status/993364569333608448

The Twitter heat on Mazzone follows reports that the DA has been rocked by a race row.

The City Press reports that during a heated DA caucus meeting last week, the party’s leader Mmusi Maimane was taken to task by his three most senior colleagues in parliament, including Mazzone, over his comments on white privilege made during a rally on Freedom Day.

While addressing DA supporters in Soshanguve, Pretoria, Maimane at the time said South Africans had to confront “white privilege and black poverty” to bring about the true meaning of freedom.

Maimane stood behind his commentary on “white privilege and black poverty”, tweeting: “I firmly stand by comments I made on Freedom Day. SA remains deeply unequal, with black SAns locked out of opportunities. We must focus on solving the problem. Liberation of one race is not the enslaving of another – all of us, black & white, must come together to build.”

I firmly stand by comments I made on Freedom Day. SA remains deeply unequal, with black SAns locked out of opportunities. We must focus on solving the problem. Liberation of one race is not the enslaving of another – all of us, black & white, must come together to build #1SA4All

— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) May 6, 2018

Mazzone’s tweet about her father’s hue was a response to a question on whether she believes white privilege exists in the country.

The question followed her initial tweet that she supports Maimane as her leader. Mazzone had tweeted: “Let me make one thing VERY clear. Mmusi Maimane is my Leader. He has my support 100%.  We work as a party for ALL South Africans. We have discussions and debates BECAUSE we believe in building a society where ALL South Africans have equal opportunities. We are UNITED for ALL SA!”

https://twitter.com/Natasha9Mazzone/status/993066691725754368

On Radio 702 this morning, Mazzone said the tweet about her father was meant to highlight the struggles that white immigrants had endured in South Africa during apartheid and that it was necessary for individual stories of such experiences to be told.

She said her tweet was not implying that her father faced the same challenges as oppressed black South Africans during apartheid.

“It would be completely unjust and unfair to say that my father, in any way, suffered as much as any black person in this country, that is certainly not what I’m saying,” Mazzone said.

The DA leader conceded that her father’s race had been an advantage for him during apartheid, adding her tweet sought to state that the privilege she had could not be compared to the privilege her father had had and that many people suffered during apartheid South Africa.

ALSO READ: Maimane ‘white privilege’ comments a shift the party needs – analyst

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