Opinion: Helen’s type of white is dangerous for South Africa

Aneesa Fazel

Helen Zille’s tweet on Friday about #BlackPrivilege caused a roar on Twitter – and it was indeed fun to watch. Every now and then, Helen rears her carefully wrapped white privilege sentiments in a shroud of supposed South African-ness, then disappears into the unknown until another opportunity to outwit the masses arises.

Ultimately, she has fooled South Africans – Black, White, Indian and Coloured – many a times.

It would be righteous to assume that Helen, through her obnoxious tweets, is only attempting to rid the country of racialism in all forms, and by doing so incorporate the white minority into the racial mixture of South Africa. There are problems with this assumption, though.

Helen does not speak for all white people in South Africa. Many white South Africans were not born into Apartheid and yet still acknowledge the privilege they carry – something they did not ask