DA support plummets after Zille’s colonialism tweets – report
Support for the Democratic Alliance among black South Africans has plummeted in the wake of controversial tweets defending colonialism by Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille.
This is according to a report in the Sunday Times, citing a confidential internal party survey seen by the paper, which showed that support for the party among this constituency has declined by almost half in the past two months.
The DA announced on Wednesday that Zille, who is the former leader of the DA, was suspended from all party activities pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing set to take place on Friday, 9 June.
Zille has been accused of bringing the DA into disrepute by making careless social media comments about the legacy of colonialism in South Africa, which drew the ire of many South Africans. When Zille was asked to stop commenting publicly, she continued to defend her position.
The internal party support poll reportedly stated that “progress made since the LGE2016 (local government elections) has been wiped out”.
The poll reportedly showed that both the ANC and EFF profited over this period, with support for the ANC among black voters up to 64%, from 50% in March. Support for the EFF also increased marginally.
“Clearly these tweets have reawakened doubts about whether or not the DA is for black South Africans.
“A majority of black voters say that as a result of these tweets, they no longer ‘respect and admire’ the DA, i.e., they have lost esteem for the party. In the opinion of black voters, then, Zille has brought the party into disrepute.
“The DA’s support has plummeted, Maimane’s favourability is falling to pre-2017 levels.”
Read: Get rid of Zille, or we will take back our votes: EFF
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