Helen Zille gets the DA boot
ON CARPET: DISCIPLINARY HEARING TOMORROW Former leader’s role as Western Cape premier not affected.
The party decided by an overwhelming majority to suspend the premier before her disciplinary hearing.
The federal executive (Fedex) of the Democratic Alliance has decided by an overwhelming majority to suspend Helen Zille from party-related activities until her disciplinary hearing is concluded.
But Fedex made it clear that she would continue in her position as premier of the Western Cape.
In an official statement from the party, Fedex executive chairperson James Selfe said there was a separation between party and state and the suspension did not affect Zille’s government role, but only dealt with her standing within the DA.
He said the suspension from party activities was effective immediately.
On Saturday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane announced that the Fedex had suspended Zille following her controversial tweets in which she said that there were positives to colonialism.
However, Zille, a former leader of the party, was quick to alert party leaders to their own constitution, which requires her to make a representation as to why she shouldn’t be suspended.
She was then served with a letter to make representations within 72 hours.
Selfe said that after consideration of Zille’s representations yesterday, Fedex decided to suspend her.
He said the disciplinary hearing would start tomorrow.
Fedex agreed that Zille’s social media commentary and public utterances in connection with colonialism broke down public trust and stunted South Africa’s reconciliation imperative.
“There is no question that Ms Zille’s original tweets and subsequent justifications have damaged our standing in the public mind,” Selfe said.
“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,” Selfe said. –