Helen Zille. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Democratic Alliance (DA) member of parliament (MP) Hlanganani Gumbi has written an opinion piece on his website challenging the party’s federal council chairperson Helen Zille over recent comments on race made at the Cape Town Press Club.
Zille said the direction the DA should take involves the party unashamedly rejecting all forms of black economic empowerment and affirmative action.
According to Gumbi, Zilles utterances are “in stark contrast to her public commitment to ‘stay in my lane'”.
“This is a first for the DA, especially on such a wedge debate in the party such as race.
“It is regrettable because the chairperson of federal council remains the critical cog in the middle of the party who should bring people together. This pronouncement I sadly believe will do the opposite,” he said.
Zille told The Citizen she does not believe her comments saw her veer out of her lane. “When I am asked to address a meeting and I am asked questions, I answer them,” she said.
She supported Gumbi’s right to publish the piece. “We are a party that believes in free speech. Mine and Hlanganani’s”.
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In the column, Gumbi goes on to express the view that “race matters”.
“We must not romanticise the advances that a very small size of the black middle class have made to overcome poverty and empower their families.
“This should not cloud our judgment from the hard reality that millions of black South Africans are currently trapped in poverty and will be for the next foreseeable future.
“Not only does it matter as a proxy for disadvantage, it matters in decision making, appointments and elections.
“Race matters just as much as experience, gender, skill and perspective. It matters because it adds to the depth of our value of diversity. This is a value that we dare not undermine during this phase of fleshing out who we are and who we are fighting for.”
Gumbi brought up “black tax” – the pressure felt by black professionals to share their wealth with family members in need – as an example for how “race is a proxy for disadvantage” in South Africa.
“This additional expense on black professionals and families who send monthly cash to their families in the former homelands to survive is the most vivid burden on a group of South Africans by virtue of being black. This perpetuates unfair and toxic structural relationships which keep them poor and the face of poverty,” he wrote.
In the column, Gumbi also said he would be supporting Makashule Gana as the DA’s interim leader. The party is set to vote for this position as well as that of interim federal chairperson on November 17.
Gana, who is currently a member of the provincial legislature (MPL) in Gauteng, announced his intention of contesting the DA leadership earlier this week, saying he wants to lead the DA in a new direction.
(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)
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