Johannesburg - Late president Nelson Mandela's assistant Zelda la Grange must apologise for her racist and anti-South African tweets, the Young Communist League (YCL) said on Saturday.
“Her tweets express bitterness and hatred towards not only our democratically elected president and the majority of our people, but also all of South Africa,” said spokesman Khaya Xaba.
“She has also disgraced the legacy through which she has become famous, that of her role in working for Tata Nelson Mandela.
“If she has any interest in South Africa and our people she should publicly apologise to President Jacob Zuma and the whole of South Africa for her incredibly racist and anti-South African insults.”
He said La Grange's tweets have exposed her to the nation as unchanged.
“Her views reflect those of racists and apartheid apologists, like Helen Zille, who choose to insult South Africa and our democracy while glorifying the undemocratic white minority presidents and colonial leaders.”
He said the YCL was disappointed that she has failed to learn from the many years she spent assisting president Nelson Mandela.
Xaba said they recognised there were thousands of “civilised white people”, including some investors, who have put their efforts towards building a united, diverse and democratic South Africa.
La Grange sparked a debate on Twitter after saying she felt white people were not welcome in South Africa.
She wrote on (at)zeldalagrangeSA: “I'm sure comments like:
unafrican to have dogs, stress is western creation, Van Riebeeck etc all good for investment in SA”.
In a follow up tweet she said she would call Jan van Riebeeck to ask him what he was thinking when he sailed to Africa.
City Press editor Ferial Haffajee responded saying:
“(at)ZeldalaGrangeSA but Zeldina, in a newish South Africa, why must one group with less melanin have a larger welcome mat, if we're equal?”
Zeldina was Mandela's nickname for La Grange.
La Grange said she would ask French President Francois Hollande if he wanted her because “the organisation that praises (Zimbabwean president Robert) Mugabe but condemns (former president FW) De Klerk doesn't want us in SA”.
“Yes Mr De Klerk was the last Apartheid President and gave in under pressure BUT he could have held onto power civil war,” she tweeted.
“De Klerk surrendered power or he could have stayed in power like the other anarchists and corrupt heads of state around us.
“If I was a white investor I would more or less leave now. It's very clear from Jacob Zuma whites are not wanted or needed in South Africa.”
She later issued a 14-take apology on her Twitter account as well as a media statement.
“I apologise unconditionally and without reservation to all South Africans who were offended by my tweets this morning,” she said in a statement.
“There is no 'but' when hurting people who have nothing to do with your frustration. I am sorry,” said La Grange, who had also reverted to her Twitter name “Zelda” after using “Zelda van Riebeeck” during her Twitter outburst.
She said she had been out of the country for a week and tried to catch up on the news overnight.
“The three main stories in the week's news from South Africa referred to whites, colonialism and/or apartheid (president Jacob Zuma saying all the country's problems started when Jan van Riebeeck arrived in 1652; Zuma calling journalist Max du Preez a racist and the ANC opposing a street in Cape Town being named after former president FW de Klerk),” she said.
She said she then saw on the television screen in the airplane a headline - the only item that referred to South Africa: “South Africa in worst debt of 20 years: Rand softens”.
“No article. Just a headline and I got angry. In an attempt to express my disdain at events, I failed to provide context and it appeared that I was generalising,” she said.
At an ANC birthday fund-raiser, Zuma told guests “all the trouble began” in 1652 when Van Riebeeck landed in the Cape.
Van Riebeeck was an administrator for the Dutch East India company who set up a refreshment station in 1652 in Cape Town for fleets rounding the Cape.
SA History on-line noted that: “For centuries most writers of South African history regarded the arrival of Europeans in this southern region of Africa as the starting point of South African history.”
Sapa