Democratic Alliance (DA) supporters march to the Constitutional Court, 15 April 2016, in Johannesburg, in the DA's "March for Change". This follows the Constitutional Court judgment, which stated that Jacob Zuma had violated his Oath of Office and the Constitution. Picture: Michel Bega
Western Cape premier and former DA leader Helen Zille and Bonginkosi Madikizela, the acting leader of the party in the Western Cape, have defended themselves against a Twitter storm that followed Zille’s assertion that Mbali was charged “long before” she was.
This exchange between Helen Zille and Mbali Ntuli, the issue was exactly when Ntuli was charged. Picture: Screenshot from Twitter
Twitter users did not take kindly to Zille’s tweet that Mbali was charged “long before” her.
Manqoba Ntshingila reacted by saying it’s curious to notice that Zille was quick to inquire about Ntuli’s case while she herself has a case to answer to the DA for her colonialism tweets earlier in the year.
Former journalist Songezo Zibi wrote that DA was prioritising the “offence” of liking a Facebook post over that of praising systematic plunder and mass murder, also known as colonialism.
When asked whether by discussing the case against Ntuli on social media she risked bringing her own party into disrepute, Zille refused to back down.
Mmusi would never let me usurp his position, and I would never try to do so.
“I was correcting a misrepresentation that the party had acted swiftly against Mbali but slowly against me. That is the OPPOSITE of the truth. Mbali’s matter dates from December 2016. Mine from March 2017. So the party was much quicker to lay charges against me than Mbali. Social media were portraying it as the other way around which was a misrepresentation,” she said.
ALSO READ: DA takes disciplinary action on Zille and her tweets
She also fiercely denied that the handling of the two matters had prejudiced Ntuli.
“Not at all. The issues are incomparable. The case to compare with Mbali’s case is the case against Dianne Kohler Barnard. They are about similar types of things. Mine is completely different, and has nothing to do with either of the above,” she explained.
Zille further reiterated that she had nothing to do with the complaint or case against Mbali. She emphasised that she did not lay the complaint but that Bonginkosi Madikizela laid the complaint of his own volition. She also denied the accusation that Mmusi Maimane, the party leader, was her stooge.
“Mmusi would never let me usurp his position, and I would never try to do so,” she said.
Madikizela was equally unapologetic about the matter.
He said he laid the complaint against Ntuli “for making derogatory comments about a fellow colleague and casting aspersions on the integrity of our internal processes and also agreeing with someone who insulted a fellow colleague on social media”.
He confirmed that he is “still going to testify as a complainant and a member who believes that party members must be subjected to the same rules equally.” He also added that DA acts against leaders and members who do not uphold the values of the party.
“Mbali is not the first black person to be charged and will certainly not be the last, those analysts have got it all wrong. As I said, we can’t be a party that apply different rules based on the color of your skin,” he quipped
READ MORE: Maimane: I will testify on behalf of Ntuli if called to do so
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