Helen Zille’s political future remained unclear with the Democratic Alliance refusing to say whether she will face disciplinary action over her comments on colonialism.
Head of the DA’s Federal Legal Commission Glynnis Breytenbach said on Saturday it was not her call to make whether the Western Cape Premier will face disciplinary action.
That decision lay with the DA’s federal executive committee.
However, she refused to say whether she had recommended action against Zille.
She met with Zille at a secret location in Cape Town after calls for Zille’s head to roll over offensive tweets.
“It is not my decision and it is not the decision of the federal legal commission. I will submit my report to the federal executive committee and they will make a decision,” said Breytenbach.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane lodged a complaint with the federal legal commission after Zille’s comments caused an outcry on Twitter.
Heavy
Following a visit to Singapore three weeks ago, the premier tweeted, among others: “For those claiming legacy of colonialism was ONLY negative, think of our independent judiciary, transport infrastructure, piped water etc.”
Zille hasn’t been charged, but she could face heavy sanctions.
Chairman of the federal executive committee James Selfe said he would wait for Breytenbach’s report to be submitted before a decision is taken.
“I have to wait for the report, and I have to consider the report. Until that happens I would not know what will happen. It will depend when I receive the report and what I decide to do with it,” he said.
The ANC called for the DA to act against Zille and recall her, while the EFF condemned her statements.
Zille is not the first DA leader to fall foul of the party’s social media policy.
DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard was slapped with a sanction after she retweeted a comment from a journalist in KwaZulu-Natal, praising apartheid.
Kohler Barnard has since been removed as the party’s spokesperson on the police, and is now deputy spokesperson on public works.
Zille also faces a challenge from outside her party.
Next week the Western Cape Provincial legislature will have a debate on her offending tweets, which could lay bare possible divisions inside the party’s provincial caucus.