Marcelle Frieda Maritz is a South African politician who has been serving as a Member of the

Limpopo Provincial Legislature The Limpopo Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Limpopo. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet, the Limpopo Executive Council, from among the ...

since 2019. She is a member of the

Freedom Front Plus The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus; af, Vryheidsfront Plus, ''VF Plus'') is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Its current stated policy positions include ab ...

(FF+) and the party's provincial leader. She served as a municipal councillor of the

Mogalakwena Local Municipality Mogalakwena Local Municipality is located in the Waterberg District Municipality of Limpopo province, South Africa. The seat of Mogalakwena Local Municipality is Mokopane. Main places The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following ...

prior to her appointment to provincial legislature. Maritz was a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) until 2015, when she resigned from the party after allegations of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

. The DA soon laid criminal charges regarding racism against her in 2019.

Political career

Maritz was a ward councillor of the

and a member of the DA until 2015, when the party accused her of racism. She denied these allegations, though the party's Provincial Disciplinary committee continued with their investigation of her breaching internal party rules. She resigned from the party in September 2015 amid the investigation taking place. She subsequently joined the FF+. Her resignation as a party member of the DA caused her seat in the municipal council to become vacant. A municipal by-election was held in her ward on 18 November 2015, which Maritz contested as the FF+ candidate. The DA won the ward. Maritz became a PR councillor in the

following the 2016 municipal election, as the FF+ had won one seat on the municipal council. She soon became the provincial leader of the party and was the party's premier candidate for the 2019 general election. She was elected to the

and became the party's sole representative.

Controversies

On 25 September 2019, the DA announced that it would be laying criminal charges of racism against Maritz after a video surfaced in which she described the

Afrikaans Protestant Church The Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk (APK; ''Afrikaans Protestant Church''), also known as AP Kerk, is a South African conservative Reformed Church federation with about 35,000 adherents. The federation consists of 210-240 congregations, mostly in ...

as a "church without kaffirs". The term is seen as a racial slur in South Africa directed to the

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

majority. The FF+ responded with a media statement disputing the authenticity of the video and said that the video is from 2015, when Maritz was still a DA member. The DA investigated a claim in 2015, that Maritz had used the word and consequently dismissed her. Maritz has denied both times that she used the word. The DA's Beyers Smit and Geoffrey Tshibvumo opened the criminal case on 26 September 2019. The DA claims that the leaked video was recorded in 2017, two years after Maritz had resigned from the DA and became a member of the FF+. The ANC referred her to the legislature's Ethics Committee. Maritz's lawyers have advised her not to discuss the issue publicly. Soon after on 3 October 2019, the

South African Human Rights Commission The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) was inaugurated in October 1995 as an independent chapter nine institution. It draws its mandate from the South African Constitution by way of the Human Rights Commission Act of 1994. Commissioner ...

announced that it had taken Maritz to the

Equality Court The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000 (PEPUDA or the Equality Act, Act No. 4 of 2000) is a comprehensive South African anti-discrimination law. It prohibits unfair discrimination by the government and by priv ...

over the incident.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maritz, Marcelle Living people Politicians from Limpopo People from Mogalakwena Local Municipality Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Freedom Front Plus politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature