POLITICAL SHIFTS
AUBREY MATSHIQI: Shades and shapes in battle for DA’s soul
‘What has never been clear about Helen Zille is whether her foray into black areas was part of a broader strategy of vote-catching’
There has been a lot of code-switching following the decision by former DA leader Helen Zille to extol the virtues of colonialism. In public, the party seems united in its condemnation of Zille’s gaffe. DA leader Mmusi Maimane has been unambiguous in his criticism of Zille and her praise for the darker side of western modernity. Speaking "exclusively" to Talk Radio 702, Maimane expressed his disappointment with Zille and intimated that the gaffe was, in his view, an affront to the dignity of African people. Is Maimane speaking on behalf of the whole party? Ostensibly, yes, but not really. Internal responses to Zille’s statements as well as the decision to charge her with bringing the DA into disrepute have been shaped by three things, namely the fact that racism is not a dynamic that is completely external to the DA, the party’s history and association with a paternalistic brand of liberalism, and changes in its complexion since 2004.Ironically, Zille is the first leader of the DA t...
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