DA’s Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille Defends Her Langa Township Statement on Social Media, SA Reacts
- The DA's Helen Zille took to social media to called out those who criticised her comments about “poor” people in Langa
- The federal council chairperson started by saying that if she said something “perfectly factual” people will get riled up
- Zille said during the 45-minute radio interview the topic of service delivery in townships was raised amongst over the things
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CAPE TOWN - The federal council chairperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Helen Zille has once again engaged in a social media tiff over her controversial comments regarding “poor” people in Langa, Cape Town.
She defended her statement and called out those who criticised them. Zille said that the DA has done far more for residents in Langa than the government in other parts of the country. Her comments have sparked a debate on social media with many outraged.
Source: UGC
In her lengthy thread on Twitter with 18 points, Zille started by saying that if she said something “perfectly factual” people will get riled up. She said during a 45-minute interview the topic of service delivery in townships was raised.
“This question is based on fundamental misperceptions. The first is what government should deliver. It is not the government’s job to deliver suburban houses, garages, cars and the additional services,” she said.
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She commented that it is the job of the local and provincial government to provide basic services.
Zille noted that the environment in Cape Town is also "far preferable" as another reason why it is better to live in the province.
"We spend far more resources and effort servicing poor areas than rich ones. Indeed the rich massively cross-subsidise services to the poor. So it is a total fallacy to say that we deliver better in Camps Bay and Constantia than in Langa and Khayelitsha," she commented.
TimesLIVE reported that the former DA leader Mmusi Maimane was among those who slammed Zille.
Social media users slam the former DA leader
@TiShumba said:
“The main reason for that is that blacks don't own land. Give them land, they will afford all those things you're talking about.”
@Fugazisquared posted:
“Ah Helen it's just twitter. It's not real life so nobody cares. The outrage is from bots and people paid to cause problems because negativity engages more than positivity. It's that simple.”
@JamesGray999 wrote:
“On what basis do you claim that metro police spend more time in the suburbs than the poor areas? It is simply not true. Analyse the data, which is available online. Don't suck it out of the air.”
@BossMhofela shared:
“Black people in Western Cape have "Better Poverty" than the rest of the country. Serious Helen.”
DA’s Helen Zille denies hating black people and calls the allegations “rubbish” on social media
Briefly News earlier reported that another social media tiff with the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Federal Chairperson Helen Zille in the center of it has occurred. She slammed comments that claimed she “hates black people” following her recent public statements about how it is better to be poor in Cape Town than in the rest of the country. The topic has sparked outrage from South Africans who believe that her comments were tone-deaf.
One social media user, @MrK, called out the former leader of the political party and said:
“But what you said Helen about black people being better in poverty in Langa than they are in any township shows that you celebrate when black people are in poverty, otherwise you would have been ashamed to say such.”
Source: Briefly News
