The Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille’s Facebook post has not been received well by some people.
In the post, Zille seemed to express her sympathy for the former president Jacob Zuma – who is currently serving his prison sentence at the Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal – while reflecting on his political career, among other things.
This is after Zuma handed himself over to the authorities on Wednesday evening.
The former president was slapped with a 15-month jail sentence when he was found guilty of contempt of court by the Constitutional Court last week Tuesday for failing to comply with the court’s ruling, forcing him to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.
‘If I had his phone number, I would reach out to him’
Zille said while she believed that Zuma must serve his sentence, she would reach out to the former president as he did when she was suspended from the DA back in 2017 despite the pair being “arch political opponents”.
“I will never forget that, shortly after I had been suspended by my own party, during a time when I was almost completely shunned by people in the DA whose lives and careers I had helped build, it was President Zuma who reached out to me.
“I was stunned into disbelief when he made contact with me and urged me to ‘have courage’ and said he understood how difficult things must be for me.
“This conversation was one of the few times, during that personal ordeal, when the tears streamed down my face, because this encounter was so counter-intuitive. He did not have to reach out to me,” she said.
The former Western Cape premier then continued to say: “If I had his phone number now (and if I knew he has a phone in his cell), I would reach out to him too, and wish him strength and courage, as he did to me at my lowest ebb. Not because I think he has been wronged. He was accorded due process of law and must serve his sentence. But because I know Zuma, the person, not the politician.”
‘Racist undertones’
Some people on social media reacted to Zille’s post with somewhat of an understanding, while others reacted to the other parts of the post with outrage.
This is because Zille seemed to suggest there was “a misalignment between the inherent assumptions of a constitutional democracy and traditional African cultures, which are more aligned to feudalism than the accountability that we demand from our leaders”.
She described Zuma as “a traditionalist” who was “totally unfamiliar with the concepts of constitutionalism”, further saying the matter was “a total misalignment”.
Reacting to Zillie’s post, one Twitter user pointed out that the opinion piece carried racist undertones.
“Zille’s article has racist undertones. The idea that constitutionalism [and] rights-based struggles are foreign concepts to [Africans] is at odds with history. She speaks as if we never contested or sought to expand the very meaning of liberty. But we did,” the user.
Meanwhile, Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi also weighed in his thought on the post, describing the former Western Cape premier as “a racist rubbish”.
See some of the tweets below:
Helen Zille is a racist rubbish!
— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) July 10, 2021
Some in the media try very hard to shove Helen Zille down our throat. #SAShutdown #Ivanka
— Goolam (@goolammv) July 10, 2021
That Helen Zille article:
Starts off well, with a moving tribute to Jacob Zuma the human being but takes a wild u-turn in saying accountability and good governance are Western traits, foreign to Africans.
She should’ve paid tribute to Zuma the man and ended it there.
— Vusi Gumbi (@VusiHGumbi) July 10, 2021
Helen Zille is an unrepentant racist. Even when trying to feign empathy [for Zuma in this case], she relies on racist ideas of Africanity.
— The Native (@Zuko_Godlimpi) July 10, 2021
Helen Zille showing us she’s not racist. #BlackTwitter 🔥 pic.twitter.com/q4kA4GbxTk
— hlumelo🇿🇦 (@h1umelo) July 10, 2021
Helen Zille article is well written and she gave us food for thoughts, before we racialize the whole read we should appreciate the information she gave us because there is a lot to learn from this piece. I think other politicians should follow suit.. #AriGude
— MALIMA_MAANO_BRYTON (@BrytonMaano) July 10, 2021
I fail to understand why Africans give a fuck about Helen Zille’s opinion on anything that affect Africans.
— Jolinkomo Quagmire Jr (@SkinnyRetard) July 10, 2021
I think the problem with us black South Africans is we read to respond nt to understand the thoughts of what the writer was saying..As much as we have the rights to say what we want, Helen Zille can say what she feels is right.. atleast she’s not quiet.. wheres Ramaphosa n Malema
— Gabhadiya Gabhavo 🇿🇦🇮🇹 (@GGabhavo) July 10, 2021
Mzekezeke getting hauled over the coals for what Helen Zille wrote is probably missing the bigger picture that the second most powerful politician in the country believes black people don’t understand democracy and the Constitution.
— 🎵Don’t go, Jason Waterfalls🎶 (@ComradeJason) July 10, 2021
-The Citizen
In other news – Meet Scandal actress Pasi Koetle (Dintle’s) beautiful Sister
This Saturday, 10 July 2021, marks the birthday of the sister of beloved South African actress and businesswoman Pasi Koetle, who has taken to social media to wish her sibling a happy birthday. It appears she wanted to take her out on a yacht but is restricted by the lockdown regulations.
Full names, Rakgadi Sedy Koetle – Pasi’s sister is a businesswoman, a brand ambassador and a mother. The actress hardly ever shows off her family on social media, but when she does, she makes sure it’s very special. Learn More