DA MP Kohler Barnard back on police committee after hate speech storm
DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard resumed her duties at the portfolio committee for police on Friday morning, as the committee looked at the implications of state gun control. Her return comes after reports that she has re-emerged as the deputy shadow minister of police for the DA. Holding the fort in her absence was fellow DA MPs Marius Redelinghuys and Zakhele Mbhele. The DA disciplined Kohler Barnard for sharing a post on social media networking site Facebook by a journalist, which painted apartheid government leader PW Botha in a glowing light. She was fined R20,000 by the party — which was donated to charity — but she successfully appealed a bid for her membership to be terminated. The ANC had also petitioned the Equality Court, saying that her actions on the social networking website constituted hate speech. However, after Redelinghuys resigned from Parliament, Kohler Barnard has resurfaced, not only as an MP but back to the party’s police committee.
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