Johannesburg – DA leader Mmusi Maimane says his party has decided to suspend Helen Zille from all party activities for her colonial tweets, but she will remain Premier of the Western Cape.
Maimane told the media on Saturday that Zille would not be removed as premier because that was a "legislative matter".
Helen Zille's tweets in February, that seemed to express support for colonialism, sent shock waves as many demanded that she be removed from her posistion as Premier of the Western Cape.
Maimane was speaking on Zille'a suspension following the party's two-day Federal Executive meeting.
It was clear that Maimane and Zille did not share the same attitude about the DA's mission for 2019, he said.
"Zille's social media commentary and public utterances in connection with colonialism undermine our reconciliation project. There is no question that Zille'a original tweets and subsequent justification have damaged our standing in public," said Maimane.
He said Zille refused to apologize to the country when he asked her to.
"In this period Zille has continued to damage the party with various pieces of communication that seek to undermine what we are trying to achieve," he said.
Maimane did not give a date on when Zille's disciplinary hearing would begin.