Botha is alleged to have launched a verbal attack on CGE chairperson Tamara Mathebula and another commissioner, Nomasonto Mazibuko.
MPs have welcomed the decision by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) to suspend and take disciplinary action against one of its members for allegedly insulting fellow commissioners.
The National Assembly committee on women, youth and persons with disabilities said it firmly backed the CGE to suspend Botha for his remarks recently.
Botha is alleged to have launched a verbal attack on CGE chairperson Tamara Mathebula and another commissioner, Nomasonto Mazibuko. The remarks were recorded in a clip.
Chairperson of the portfolio committee Nonhlanhla Ncube-Ndaba said the CGE was correct in taking action against Botha and his conduct would not be tolerated.
Botha was heard in a clip calling Mazibuko an albino and Mathebula lacking a backbone.
Ncube-Ndaba said the commission must act decisively against Botha and they would not allow such attacks to go unpunished.
She said they welcomed the suspension and disciplinary action against Botha and they were looking forward to the outcome of the hearing.
“We are looking forward as the committee to the outcome of the internal disciplinary hearing and wish it to proceed well,” said Ncube-Ndaba.
She said it was wrong in a democratic state to have such insults hurled against other people.
“Referring to someone as an albino is an unacceptable derogatory characterisation of South Africans who experience disabilities.
“Furthermore, it is a shocking gross discrimination that belongs to the dark era of apartheid,” said Ncube-Ndaba.
– Political Bureau
