DA leader Mmusi Maimane says he disagrees with veteran journalist Allister Sparks comments on Hendrik Verwoerd.
Maimane was responding to a question on Sunday on a comment that Sparks made at the DA congress when he said he thought Verwoerd was a smart politician even though he believed his policies were "monstrous."
Sparks made the comment when he paid tribute to former party leader Helen Zille as one of the many smart politicians he's known in his years as a journalist.
In his response Maimane said he knows Sparks' "work as a seasoned journalist" who had fought against apartheid.
"I know the work of Allister Sparks. He's a seasoned journalist. He's written some very profound things. He's fought against apartheid and I think yesterday (Saturday) he came to pay tribute to Helen Zille."
"I disagree with his comment on Verwoerd, but then I'm entitled to have my own view as he is entitled to have his own view. But, I think without fail we should never sit down and say that someone like Allister Sparks who has fought against Verwoerd in fact supports his policies. I think, as I sit here today Verwoerd's policies are deplorable. They were evil."
"So, I think the issue here can be interpreted in many ways and I think we can differ in opinion, we do. But, I think we must never forget the fact that here's a South African who served the people and has fought against aparteid equally so."
