GARETH VAN ONSELEN: Mmusi Maimane presses the self-destruct button
‘White privilege’ is an unavoidably tainted and entirely subjective notion — and the DA leader has fallen for it hook, line and sinker
Speaking at a recent Freedom Day rally, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said: "When we speak the truth, there is such a thing that we must confront of white privilege and black poverty [sic]." The remark reportedly triggered a backlash inside the DA. The party’s caucus meeting last Thursday, according to City Press, led an "orchestrated attack" on Maimane for his remarks and, following a slew of front page newspaper reports on Maimane’s comments and the internal fallout, various DA members spent Monday prostrating themselves before the social media mob, explaining themselves or endorsing the idea. It was, essentially and at its heart, an unthinking piece of opportunism. Maimane has now opened the floodgates and, once open, such is the torrent likely to rage through them, they are going to prove very hard to close.It is unlikely the DA leadership will understand what it has done. It will, as is so often the case, believe this a discussion on paper and "white privilege" an idea that can be ex...
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