With the tweet storm Zille becomes yesterday's news
AFTER that tweet of colonialism “as not completely bad”, Helen Zille just went and erased her legacy in growing the DA into what it is today.
As someone who worked tirelessly to portray herself and the DA as progressive and an alternative for the black South African voter, she not only offended the growing black electorate in the DA, but succeeded in painting herself (and by extension the party) with the same conservative brush indicative of the Freedom Front Plus and Afri-Forum.
In a political environment where perception can be more powerful than facts, Zille’s tweet had a more profound effect than that of DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard previously.
This is because of the high rank Zille holds in the party and the stereotype in some circles that she still pulls the strings despite the party having its first black leader.
This particular series of tweets took the cake.
It touched at the core racial history of our country – colonialism – and simply opened historical wounds that remain deeply painful for the electorate that is currently making the DA relevant.
It is why Mmusi Maimane had to step up as leader and rein her in, or risk perpetuating the stereotype that the DA is simply a white party with a black face.
One could hear the strain in Maimane’s voice in his interview with Eusebius McKaiser in describing the tweets as “bigoted” and that which “went against the party’s social media policy”.
He said Zille would finally face disciplinary action.
Poor soul, he was caught in between loyalty to the woman who enabled him to be at the helm of the party and the racist remark that will surely alienate the very electorate he is trying to convince that the DA is a home for black voters.
Unfortunately for Maimane, this tweet is even worse than some of her previous tweets referring to “professional blacks” or “economic refugees”, as the DA didn’t have a black leader then.
Now with the DA having its first black leader, black voters are waiting to see how that black leader would handle its high ranking and previous white leader.
It is for obvious reasons a double-edged sword for him.
And with a growing EFF as an alternative, Maimane had to act if the party wanted to retain its black electorate and encourage new voters into its fold.
The EFF further could not be faulted in pointing out that Zille’s apology was not an apology for the idea she held about colonialism and its ostensible good, but for the “hurt” it caused.
This is equivalent to a partner apologising for being caught having an extra-marital affair rather than for the moral principle of cheating.
The apology is disingenuous at best.
It was really not Zille’s finest moment.
Talking of the so-called good brought by colonialists is not only offensive, but is dismissive of the crime against black human life it brought.
Did she really think black South Africans were going to applaud her and say, “Madam Zille, you have a point”?
She, and the people that hold Zille’s view about colonisation seriously, needed to attend the recent South African lecture by Ngugi wa Thiong’o on decolonising the mind.
For someone of Jewish lineage, Zille should know better how damaging her comments were.
They were equivalent to saying that Adolf Hitler was not that bad.
She herself objected to #FeesMustFall leader Mcebo Dlamini holding that view.
With the current wave of the call to decolonise education on the streets and almost a fight for an authentic Africa, Zille hit the wrong nerve.
Furthermore, it went to the core of people’s doubts about her and, by extension, doubts about what the DA stands for.
If people needed confirmation she was a racist – something her legacy was always going to have to deal with – they will argue they got it.
And the repercussions to her legacy are immense.
The currently offended black electorate will forget that Zille was a force to be reckoned with for the longest time.
She was a woman who commanded South African’s respect irrespective of whether one agreed with her views or not.
She was the first woman to lead a formerly white political party to new frontiers and give the black electorate an option besides the ANC.
Young black leaders such as Lindiwe Mazibuko and Maimane emerged to the higher echelons of the leadership of the DA under her watch.
It spoke of her leadership acumen and ability to read the mood in how the DA was to turn “black” for its survival and relevance.
Add to that, she had some struggle credentials to her name by exposing the truth behind the death of black consciousness leader Steve Biko, silencing anyone with unbiased fact who wanted to call her a racist.
To then turn around and justify colonialism, she went and completely ruined the very legacy that she had worked tirelessly to create. This was in similar fashion to how the ANC creates the policies that enable the black middle class to emerge, and then turns around and calls them “clever blacks” for being critical of their governance.
Zille created the space for the rise of the black electorate in a formerly white party and then became offensive in the most painful manner.
Someone with her credentials and experience should have known better.
Now those black people who wanted to cross over the line and vote DA, but had doubts, have had their racial-based fears with her inability to control her thumb confirmed.
The DA needs to recognise that Zille has become yesterday’s news by her own doing with the power of 140 characters.
Quite a racist exit to what would have been a “transformational” legacy in our democracy.