CAPE TOWN - The Public Protector’s office has said it was “puzzled” by the costs order made against it as the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) found in favour of former Western Cape premier Helen Zille in the matter involving her controversial tweets about colonialism.
The SCA on Monday set aside Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s finding that Zille had breached sections of the executive ethics code when she tweeted “for those claiming the legacy of colonialism was only negative, think of our independent judiciary, transport infrastructure, piped water etc. Would we have had a transition into specialised healthcare and medication without colonial influence?”
The tweet had elicited various responses, with the EFF particularly accusing her of “embracing colonialism heritage”.
Zille had approached the High Court in Pretoria to review and set aside the findings of the report, but that was declined.
Reacting to Monday’s SCA ruling, Public Protector spokesperson Oupa Segwale said they were “puzzled” by the costs aspect of the judgment as the matter was unopposed.
“The Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) is aware of the judgment.
“The matter was decided unopposed. Ms Zille first went to the High Court for review.
“The High Court affirmed the Public Protector’s findings.
“Unhappy, Ms Zille approached the Supreme Court of Appeal. The PPSA didn’t oppose it.
“Doing so would have served no purpose because Ms Zille was no longer premier and, accordingly, no action was going to be taken against her,” Segwale said.
The SCA ruled there was no evidence showing that the tweets resulted in the Office of the Premier being undermined, and without those facts, it was difficult to find a basis for concluding that the Ethics Code was breached.
It further ordered the Public Protector to pay the costs of the appeal, including the cost of two counsel.
Zille said she was “pleased” with the outcome.
“I am very pleased with the outcome,” she said.
EFF Western Cape spokesperson Wandile Kasibe said despite being absolved by the court of law, it did not mean that Zille’s tweet wasn’t “reckless, insensitive and racist to say the least”.
Zille reacted to this by saying that EFF Leader Julius Malema has said “far, far worse”.
“I said the legacy of colonialism was not only negative.
“Malema has said ’apartheid was better than the ANC’. It is on video. Google it. He said it in connection with a clinic in Limpopo.
“What I said is in our own history textbooks and is generally accepted by 99% of historians. No one accepts what Julius said,” she said.
ANC head of communications, Sifiso Mtsweni, said they remained of the view that the tweets on the “romanticisation of colonialism remains in bad taste, repugnant and backward”.
“It has opened old wounds which were beginning to heal through the heralding of a New Democratic dispensation post-1994 that was underpinned by constitutionalism and embedded in a vision towards creating a society that is united in its diversity, and that is prosperous,” Mtsweni said.
Cape Times