The DA's Rush to Judgment

The ink of Dianne Kohler Barnard's message on Facebook had not yet "dried" when the DA's leader, Mmusi Maimane, leveled charges against her. Her membership in the party was terminated for mistakenly reposting a received message praising PW Botha for being "far more honest than any of these ANC rogues" and providing "a far better service to the public". Many would argue that the comment had a stinging truthfulness to it, or at the very least, was within the parameters of fair comment. Clearly Kohler Barnard's reposting of the message was the height of stupidity. However, her stupidity does not necessarily translate into racism. By all accounts, the former MP is not, and has never evinced racist tendencies, or support for the apartheid regime. Kohler Barnard immediately apologised, expressed remorse, but no matter how genuine and sincere the depth of her apology, the reposted message presented an exploitative and irresistible opportunity for the DA to hang her out to dry in furtherance of professing the DA's zero tolerance to apartheid supporters. The party wasted no time in chewing and spitting Kohler Barnard out of the party - a disingenuous manoeuvre designed to affirm the party's racial inclusiveness to black voters. The fact that the DA felt the need, given the circumstances, to throw Kohler Barnard under the bus, does not bode well for the party.