S. African governing party defends appointing Chinese-South African as legislator

Johannesburg,

South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) has defended the appointment of a Chinese-South African as a member of Parliament, saying the country is non-racial and non-sexist.

ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina on Saturday said the appointee, Xiaomei Havard, is a trained ICT professional, a computer scientist, a businesswoman and a philanthropist with a PhD.

She has lived in South Africa since 1994 and married her partner who is a South African citizen and qualifies for citizenship in accordance with the law.

"In May 2019, she stood for elections on an ANC ticket having gone through a national list process and emerged as candidate 130 on the ANC national list as verified by the Independent Electoral Commission," said Majodina.

"Her party, the ANC included her name in the national list and her appointment meets Constitutional muster and is allowed," the official also said, adding that she has been supporting the ANC for more than 15 years.

Havard was sworn in as the member of Parliament this week to replace Jackson Mthembu who succumbed to the Covid-19 complications.

The elevation sparked debates on social media with some supported while some against it.

Majodina said the country condemns all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

"The speedy and comprehensive elimination of all forms of racism and discrimination is a historic mission that we cannot shy from," she said.