Zille wins tweets court reprieve

W Cape speaker prevented from taking action against premier.

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has obtained an urgent interdict suspending Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s directive that the speaker of the Western Cape legislature must “take appropriate action” to hold her accountable for her controversial tweets about colonialism.

Judge Norman Davis yesterday granted an order in the High Court in Pretoria interdicting the speaker from implementing the remedial action directed in the public protector’s June 11 report pending the final determination of Zille’s application to review and set aside Mkhwebane’s findings and remedial action.

Mkhwebane and the speaker did not oppose her application for interim relief.

The public protector’s report followed a complaint by an ANC member of the Western Cape provincial legislature, Khayalethu Magaxa, about Zille’s tweets concerning colonialism on her return from a trip to Singapore in 2017 in which she stated that the legacy of colonialism was not only negative.

Mkhwebane found that Zille had violated the constitution and the Executive Ethics Code and that her tweets brought back a lot of pain and suffering to victims of apartheid and “celebrated the oppression, exploitation, racism and poverty which were the direct result of the legacy of colonialism”.

She found that the tweets divided society on racial grounds, were offensive and insensitive to a section of the South African population and were likely to cause racial tensions, diversions and violence in South Africa.

In court papers, Zille defended her tweets and said if read in context, it expressed her view that in spite of the overall negativity of colonialism, its legacy had nevertheless left us with some benefits.

“I did not state, and do not believe, that colonialism is worthy of celebration. I recognise that colonialism and apartheid subjugated and oppressed the majority in South Africa and benefitted a minority on the basis of race.

“This is indefensible and I do not support, justify, praise or promote it in any way,” she said.

Zille maintained the public protector’s findings were unjustified and unlawful and the remedial action would have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and political speech in the country.

“It is no exaggeration to say that our democracy, and the culture of vigorous and open dialogue and debate that is vital to sustain it, will be harmed by the implementation of the public protector’s remedial action,” she said. –

I do not believe that colonialism is worthy of celebration