DA officially suspends Helen Zille
The Democratic Alliance has officially suspended former leader and Western Cape premier Helen Zille from all party activities until her disciplinary hearing has concluded.
In a statement late on Wednesday, DA FedEx chairperson James Selfe said that the decision was taken by an overwhelming majority of the committee, following Zille’s submissions as to why she should not be suspended.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane this past weekend gave Zille a notice of suspension, giving the former leader 72 hours to submit reasons why she should not be suspended.
The party was taking action against Zille for social media comments that the legacy of colonialism was “all negative”, and subsequent blog posts where she defended her view, and expanded on it.
Zille has apologised on two occasions for the remarks, which she claims were not defending colonialism, and were being misinterpreted.
However, the DA executive said that the remarks, and Zille’s continued justifications are doing damage to the party.
“The Federal Executive agreed that Ms Zille’s social media commentary and public utterances in connection with colonialism breaks down public trust, stunts South Africa’s reconciliation imperative, and undermines our political project,” Selfe said.
“There is no question that Ms Zille’s original tweets and subsequent justifications have damaged our standing in the public mind. We live in a fragile democracy which means our public representatives must, at all times, be sensitive to the legitimate anger that people still feel about our past and its legacy.”
“As a former leader and as a member of the Federal Executive, Ms Zille has a special duty of care to protect the party’s interests and promote the party’s mission, which is to build a non-racial, inclusive democracy. Ms Zille’s statements are at variance with this.”
According to the DA, Maimane has “tried every avenue” to try and resolve the issue, including requesting that Zille apologise unreservedly, and in full. However, the party leaders claim she has refused to do this.
“In every effort (Maimane) has made, Ms Zille has refused to take the appropriate action necessary to resolve this unfortunate and damaging matter. Her ongoing communication on this issue has continued to cause damage to the party,” Selfe said.
Zille will continue in her government role as Premier of the Western Cape, as there is a separation between party and state, and this suspension does not affect her government role. This matter deals with her standing within the DA, Selfe said.
Zille’s disciplinary hearing is scheduled for Friday, 9 June.
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