In a lengthy social media post, Zille stood by her statement and slammed those who criticised her, saying they should stop the “childish game of manufacturing outrage when inconvenient truths are spoken”.
“The outrage manufacturers are those who want to infantilise black people and keep them trapped in permanent victimhood, unable to use their opportunities to improve their lives. Enough already,” she said.
She said the DA has done more for residents in Langa than governments in other parts of the country, including replacing hostels in the area with flats.
“Most people living in Langa qualify for subsidised services. Langa is also well supplied with schools, clinics, a police station, halls, recreational facilities and so on,” said Zille.
“It is a simple fact that this environment is far preferable, and far more conductive to improving your life circumstances, than living in 98% of townships across SA. It is 100 times better than many and 1,000 times better than those without services at all.”
‘Stop the childish game of manufacturing outrage’ — Zille on Langa comments backlash
DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille has again come out with guns blazing in response to criticism over her recent remarks about poor people living in Langa, Cape Town.
Last week Zille came under fire after she said “to be poor in Langa, in Cape Town, is a hundred, probably 1,000 times better than being poor in many of the townships in the rest of the country”.
In a lengthy social media post, Zille stood by her statement and slammed those who criticised her, saying they should stop the “childish game of manufacturing outrage when inconvenient truths are spoken”.
“The outrage manufacturers are those who want to infantilise black people and keep them trapped in permanent victimhood, unable to use their opportunities to improve their lives. Enough already,” she said.
She said the DA has done more for residents in Langa than governments in other parts of the country, including replacing hostels in the area with flats.
“Most people living in Langa qualify for subsidised services. Langa is also well supplied with schools, clinics, a police station, halls, recreational facilities and so on,” said Zille.
“It is a simple fact that this environment is far preferable, and far more conductive to improving your life circumstances, than living in 98% of townships across SA. It is 100 times better than many and 1,000 times better than those without services at all.”
She also said the DA spends far more resources and effort servicing poor areas than rich ones.
“The rich massively cross-subsidise services to the poor. It is a total fallacy to say we deliver better in Camps Bay and Constantia than in Langa and Khayelitsha,” said Zille.
Among those who slammed Zille for her comments was former DA leader Mmusi Maimane.
“There is no such thing as Cape Town hunger. The cold is not softer because a mountain is close by. The rain is not preheated because it is falling on the homeless in the Western Cape. Proximity to affluence is not any better than the distance from affluence. The city must do more,” he said.
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