Zille needs to apologise ‘unreservedly’ to public

She is using Maimane as a front to lure black people to vote for the DA, writes

IAmos Tebeila.

t is a shame in this democratic society for a politician of Helen Zille’s calibre to still be mentioning apartheid terminologies like colonialism and its positives. Positive or negative, colonialism can’t be justified because it was a cruel policy working against the majority of black people.

I thought Zille’s tweets about the positives of colonialism were a mere slip of the tongue. But after apologising, she still affirms that colonialism can be repurposed to achieve better things.

Zille’s statement doesn’t hold water as it contradicts itself.

If you apologise for an utterance, you don’t justify your apology because people won’t take you seriously.

The word “unreservedly” means your apology is not justified by another statement.

It is an obvious fact that Zille undermines the leadership of Mmusi Maimane merely because he is black.

Colonialism can never be repurposed or justified in any manner because its policies exploited blacks for the benefit of the wealthy white minority.

I think the federal executive of the Democratic Alliance’s decision to suspend Zille from party-related activities until her disciplinary hearing is concluded is a good thing.

I think Zille is using Maimane as a front to lure black people to vote for the DA in 2019.

Zille was very vocal about the Nkandla paradise and holding President Jacob Zuma to account.

Now she is the one who is offside with her careless colonial tweets.

I urge her to swallow her pride and apologise to the public “unreservedly”.