Ethics Committee reprimands Macpherson for 'amaphara' comment
The Ethics Committee has recommended to the National Assembly that Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson be reprimanded and apologise for calling ActionSA members "amaphara".
Image: Henk Kruger
The Ethics Committee has found that Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson broke the rules by calling ActionSA members “amaphara,” a derogatory term.
This comes after ActionSA MP Alan Beesley filed a complaint in July 2025, claiming that Macpherson violated the rules for MPs' conduct.
Beesley complained that Macpherson had, during an address delivered outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court on July 24, 2025, referred to ActionSA supporters as “amaphara”.
Beesley said the term “amaphara” is commonly used to describe drug addicts, criminals, and societal parasites.
He also said Macpherson had, on a separate occasion, during an interview with an IOL journalist, referred to the same group of ActionSA supporters as “hobos”.
Beesley stated that the derogatory remarks were directed at a group of predominantly black South Africans who support ActionSA and that such remarks were deeply offensive, racially charged, and dehumanising in nature.
He maintained that Macpherson’s conduct undermined the spirit of the Constitution and the oath of office he swore to uphold.
Committee co-chairpersons Nonkosi Mvana and Joseph Britz said Macpherson was given an opportunity to respond and did so on August 22, 2025.
He denied having used the word “hobo” and that nowhere in the article he called the ActionSA supporters “hobos”.
Instead, he claimed a reporter used “hobo” as an adjective in the article.
However, Macpherson told the Ethics Committee that the term “amaphara” was used to describe an incident he witnessed outside the court.
This was related to the arrival of a taxi, and an intoxicated individual told them that they were promised R50 and a meal if they attended the ActionSA protest, and they would receive T-shirts.
Mvana and Britz said Macpherson told the committee that there was nothing inherently offensive about calling someone “amaphara” in that political context.
However, the co-chairpersons said the committee noted that the video footage showed that Macpherson said that another political party brought in some people, who were “amaphara that were given green T-shirts”.
They noted that Macpherson did not deny that he used the word “amaphara” and had used it in the context of seeing an intoxicated individual who fell out of a taxi and told them they were promised R50.
“This shows that he was not referring to one person. The member was referring to the ActionSA supporters as ‘amaphara’.”
They said the committee’s research on the word “amaphara” shows that it is used to refer to people who are impoverished and drug users.
The committee found that Macpherson's usage of the word “amaphara” was contrary to the Code because he failed to maintain public confidence and trust in the integrity of Parliament.
The committee found that the IOL article did not reflect that Macpherson used the word “hobo”.
The committee has recommended to the National Assembly that Macpherson be reprimanded and that he enter an apology in the House for referring to ActionSA supporters as “amaphara”.