Now Zille wants to tackle ‘racial hypocrisy’

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has again set the cat among the pigeons with a tweet that suggests she is not ready to let go of her racially charged arguments.

Zille on Tuesday morning tweeted an article that quotes EFF leader Julius Malema on the country’s health crisis.

“SA health system was better under apartheid‚ says Malema but Motsoaledi disagrees‚” reads the headline to the article.

Zille responded: “When I said something far milder the sky fell in. *waits patiently for the fallout.” The latter was an apparent reference to a tweet that nearly ended her political career last year when she was accused of defending colonialism.

Zille again found herself at the centre of a heated debate on Tuesday after she cited the Malema comments.

“Really HZ... I say again‚ this is a road to disaster for you. Continue doing the brilliant work you always do in public service. This is one debate you can / have to stay away from. Discipline...” one person tweeted.

But Zille was unmoved. She said she was planning an article “to explain why racial hypocrisy and double standards will prove to be disastrous for South Africa.”

Zille sparked a racial storm last year after she tweeted that colonialism was not only negative. The remark was apparently made after a trip to Singapore‚ where she had witnessed the benefits of colonialism. After defending her stance for weeks‚ Zille eventually apologised after the DA federal executive started disciplinary proceedings against her.

The controversy threatened to resurface last week after Zille suggested that drought-hit citizens had colonialism to thank for piped water. Reports said that the federal executive had sent Zille a letter‚ warning her to stay away from tweeting about colonialism.