Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has sparked fury after she exchanged profanities with a disabled resident during a community meeting in Loerie, Kouga Municipality, on Wednesday, 9 September.

The incident occurred after an official launch of an upgraded sewer pump station worth R5.98 million when the meeting descended into chaos during a question-and-answer session.

According to Kyle Minnaar, an administrator at Kouga Municipality who attended the meeting, a resident began speaking out of turn and disagreed with another attendee. The minister requested that the resident be removed from the hall.

As the man was being escorted out, he directed an Afrikaans expletive, “jou ma se p…” at Majodina. The minister allegedly then responded: “Phuma! Jou ma se p… ook.“

Minnaar said he was disappointed with the minister’s conduct, noting that while the resident may have spoken out of turn, this did not justify her response.

“It’s disappointing to see a minister act in such a fashion, disrespecting a member of the community but also the entire community,” he said.

Minnaar also claimed the minister had campaigned for the ANC at the meeting despite attending in her official ministerial capacity, calling it “an abuse of power” and “completely unacceptable behaviour from a Cabinet minister”.

DA lodges ethics complaint

The Democratic Alliance has lodged an ethics complaint with Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests over the incident.

George Michalakis, DA parliamentary leader, said President Cyril Ramaphosa must act against Majodina.

“This shows what the ANC thinks about South Africans,” Michalakis said in a statement.

“A Cabinet minister cannot be allowed to respond to members of the public with vulgar insults simply because they are challenged or disagree with her. Ministers are entrusted with serving South Africans and must conduct themselves with dignity, respect and accountability.”

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The DA is calling for the minister’s conduct to be fully investigated and for appropriate sanctions to be imposed by both parliament and the president.

“This behaviour brings the ANC, Parliament and government into disrepute and undermines public confidence in her,” Michalakis said.

The incident has drawn comparisons to Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero, who faced similar backlash in late August for using profane language during a community meeting in Tshepisong over electricity outages. Morero issued a public apology the same day.

At the time of publication, Majodina had not issued a public statement regarding the exchange.

The Kouga Local Municipality issued a statement on the day focusing on the pump station launch, which was funded through the Water Services Infrastructure Grant to address recurring pump failures. The statement made no mention of the confrontation.