South African opposition chief ousted over colonialism tweet

Johannesburg, Tuesday

South Africa’s main opposition party Tuesday removed former leader Helen Zille from all party leadership roles after a disciplinary hearing over a controversial tweet in which she praised aspects of colonialism. Zille also apologised ‘unreservedly” for the tweet, which she posted in March.

Mmusi Maimane, the current leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) party, said Zille “has agreed that it is in the best interests of the party for her to vacate her position on all decision-making structures of the party,” Zille told a news conference that she was “genuinely sorry” and that she realised that her comment was insensitive to South Africans who suffered under colonial oppression.

She said she “apologise unreservedly to the South African public who were offended by this tweet and my subsequent explanation of it.” On March 16, Zille wrote: “For those claiming legacy of colonialism was ONLY negative, think of our independent judiciary, transport infrastructure, piped water.” -AFP

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