Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has been caught in a Twitter storm again, after tweeting about the “benefits” of colonialism.
Her latest comments have angered the ANC, who called her an “unrepentant racist”.
ANC acting provincial chairman Khaya Magaxa said the party will be taking action against Zille.
REPORT: ANC’s Khaya Magaxa. Photo: BHEKI RADEBE/ANA Pictures
Zille has been placed on suspension for bringing the DA into disrepute, and then apologising for her controversial tweets defending aspects of colonialism’s legacy.
In response to the latest tweet, the DA has seemingly shelved the issue for now, with party leader Mmusi Maimane’s spokesperson, Portia Adams, saying the focus should be on next year’s elections instead, reports the Cape Times.
It all started when Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba tweeted a picture comparing US President Donald Trump to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
ROOT OF ISSUE: Jozi Maygo. Photo: Screengrab
Under a picture of Trump he listed the “successes” the US prez. had seemingly achieved, alongside Ramaphosa’s “failures”.
A Twitter user responsed to Mashaba, saying: “Despicable and disgusting that Trump is now the role model of the DA. This is 100 times worse than the @helenzille colonialism tweet!”
Zille then rekked her bek, tweeting: “Do you genuinely believe the legacy of colonialism was ONLY negative? Then let’s scrap the constitution, inclu-
ding concepts such as the separation of powers. Let’s scrap formal education institutions, the English language etc etc.”
Mashaba has defended his tweet, saying he had not endorsed Trump.
“The point of the tweet was to illustrate the fact that, despite our misgivings of President Trump, his government has been engaged in action which is allegedly returning some benefits,” he said.
Last year, the ANC lodged a complaint with Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s office against Zille.
On her arrival from Singapore, Zille said SA had much to learn from the Asian nation.
She tweeted: “For those claiming legacy of colonialism was only negative, think of our independent judiciary, transport infrastructure, piped water, etc.”
Magaxa said they would be reporting Zille to the public protector again.
Mkhwebane in June found Zille to have viola-
ted the Constitution and the integrity of her office for her tweets.
Last month Zille launched a court bid to take Mkhwebane’s report on judicial review.