THE THICK END OF THE WEDGE
PETER BRUCE: Colonialism tweet will end Helen Zille’s career
'Zille predicted 2019 would be a struggle between the DA and EFF for pieces of the ANC. It seems she was right, but now she's probably out of the fight'
This column is probably best written at 32,000 feet. Waiting in the airport lounge before my flight, I watched in numbed amazement as one of modern SA’s most important careers went up in flames. Whatever happens to Helen Zille next, her political life has changed forever. For those of you not on Twitter (the sane majority), Zille, the former leader of the DA, mayor of Cape Town and now premier of the Western Cape, easily the best-run province in the country, seems to have been at an airport on Thursday morning. She has a million followers on Twitter and as she waited for her flight she engaged, as is her wont, in some argument with her followers and critics.And then, for some maniacal reason, at 8.25am, she tweeted: "For those claiming legacy of colonialism was ONLY negative, think of our independent judiciary, transport infrastructure, piped water etc." So powerful was the outrage from (mainly) black South Africans, who don’t have quite so rosy a memory of colonial SA, that by 9.59...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.