The City of Cape Town has accused Fadiel Adams, president of the Cape Coloured Congress, of hate speech, unfair discrimination, and harassment toward municipal manager Lungelo Mbandazayo. Adams repeatedly referred to Mbandazayo as "from the Eastern Cape" in his Facebook Live broadcasts, which the Equality Court found to be racially derogatory.

Western Cape High Court Judge Nobahle Mangcu-Lockwood ruled that Adams' use of the term was not a neutral geographic reference but rather a racial trope intended to portray Mbandazayo as inferior and incapable.

Adams is known for his criticisms of DA governance in the City and the province as a whole, which he characterises as prioritising the material interests of migrants from the Eastern Cape over the rights of legacy Cape communities.

He also rattled the DA over the last few years by blowing the whistle on the corrupt relationship between Human Settlements councillor Malusi Booi and Ralhp Stanfield of the 28s gang, which the City ignored for four years, until the police raided his office.

Adams' campaign against Mbandazayo began after the municipal manager cancelled a contract for repairing staircases in residential flats in the Cape Flats in 2018.

Adams conducted a successful social media campaign, alleging fraud and corruption in the cancellation and demanding access to a forensic investigation report conducted by the City, which was not publicly released.

Adams, a proportional representative councillor in the City, believed the cancellation was unjust and accused Mbandazayo of implementing policies that marginalized poor communities.

Despite warnings from the City's lawyers, Adams continued to bring up the provincial-migrant status of Mbandazayo to question his motives. He referred to him as a "young man from the Eastern Cape" who did not care about the living conditions of Coloured people, among other derogatory statements.

Adams insisted that his comments were accurate and not threatening, but the judge disagreed, finding that they constituted hate speech, unfair discrimination, and harassment.

Judge Mangcu-Lockwood ordered Adams to publicly apologize to Mbandazayo and delete his offending Facebook Live posts. She also mandated "racial sensitivity training" for Adams, citing his recalcitrant attitude and beliefs that undermine the dignity and leadership of black African individuals.

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