Suspended Zille claims her case was prejudged
FORMER DA leader Helen Zille claims the party failed to follow proper party procedures when considering her suspension.
Zille – who is Western Cape premier – was officially suspended from the party last night.
This after the party initially announced her suspension at the weekend, then corrected a statement to say it had served her with a letter of intention to suspend.
Zille is being disciplined over tweets in which she discussed the advantages of colonialism.
In a nine-page letter motivating why she should not be suspended‚ Zille said black people who shared the same views on colonialism were not treated in the same manner.
Zille made her motivation letter public moments after the DA confirmed her suspension.
“Given that so many black South Africans have expressed exactly the same views on the legacy of colonialism as I have [only in more forceful terms] and given that the DA has never raised any concerns about these views‚ let alone repudiated them‚ and has no written policy on the matter‚ I drew the conclusion that a contributing reason to my being charged is the fact that I am not black‚” Zille said.
In her letter‚ she accused the party of failing to follow due process in her matter and also claimed the case was prejudged.
She said her suspension was a vindictive move which came after she resisted being pushed into resigning.
She also said it was not true she had not complied with the request to apologise for the tweets.
In announcing her suspension, DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said the decision was taken by the overwhelming majority and the suspension was effective immediately.
Earlier yesterday, the federal executive had made another attempt to reach out to Zille in a bid to avoid further damage to both her and the party after she was asked to submit reasons why she should not be suspended.
Mediation efforts to appease Zille had continued behind the scenes throughout yesterday, but by 6pm it was clear she was having none of it, sources close to the process said.