SA Politics Thread Part 11: The GNU Normal

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  • Helen Zille hosted a women’s month radio show on Power FM, focusing on statutory rape.
  • Guests, including Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba and activist Gaopalelwe Phalaetsile.
  • Zille highlighted the need to enforce laws against statutory rape and proposed support desks for girls in abusive situations if elected Joburg mayor.
Moonlighting as a breakfast show radio DJ, DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille sought to wake South Africans up to how statutory rape traps many girls in cycles of poverty.

In celebration of women’s month, Johannesburg-based Power FM invited prominent South African women behind their microphones. On Wednesday morning, it was Zille’s turn to host the 06:00 to 09:00 slot.

“Vukani nonke! (Wake up everyone)” Zille said, after she opened her show with the amapiano tune Vuka by Oscar Mbo, which she described as a message to men to take responsibility for their lives.

“Can you imagine how many listeners I will put off in three hours?” she joked shortly after 06:00. But the focus of her show was serious: statutory rape.


Her first guest was ANC Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba. Zille said Ramathuba “shot into [her] consciousness” on Christmas Day, when she came out strongly against the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl who gave birth on that day.

READ | 'It is pathological': Zille supports Limpopo premier's tough stance on statutory rape

A 28-year-old man was arrested shortly thereafter, but Ramathuba told Zille on Wednesday that the National Prosecuting Authority had been experiencing some issues in dealing with the matter.

Zille said she was not condemning statutory rape because she was on a “moralistic crusade”. She added that she wanted to beat poverty, but that when young girls had babies, it entrenched a cycle of poverty, as they would drop out of school and end up relying on Sassa grants.


She said it was terrible that the girls, instead of the men who impregnated them, were shamed, and said much of the “problems that keep women in subjugation are rooted in culture”.

Ramathuba agreed, saying:

In some areas, they get shocked when we tell them a 15-year-old is a child.

Ramathuba also emphasised the role of poverty. She said girls who grew up in families where they had access to a good education were empowered with knowledge, but that children without active parents were often the victims.

Zille said the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act criminalised sex with children below the age of 16, but that it was seldom applied. “What can we do to give this law real teeth?”

READ | National Assembly revives motion to look into statutory rape through public participation

Zille also talked with activist and communicator Gaopalelwe Phalaetsile, who bravely told how a family friend groomed her as a teenager and had a sexual and violent relationship with her when she was 16.

“This person was safely in our home. Trusted,” Phalaetsile said.

“We both knew it was wrong. But the power relations were so uneven I couldn’t even speak out against it.”

She said the person created a situation where she, as a naïve teenager who felt misunderstood, felt safe with him.

She said that when what was happening to her became known, all the anger was directed at her. This included her family.

“Nobody showed anger towards him.”

Zille was coy about the expectation that she would be the DA’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg in next year’s elections.

“First, I have to be chosen by my party to stand, and then I have to win an election,” she said.

She did, however, ask if it would be feasible for a mayor to start a desk for girls who find themselves in situations similar to what Phalaetsile found herself in to call for help.

“Absolutely,” Phalaetsile answered. “People in positions of power like that must do something.”
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TheChamp said:
Look at the signs mnganam, first she tells you the DA poll is rubbish then she makes it clear she has very little confidence in her party winning the election.

Chitha lamanzi, ayikho lenkukhu.
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It's a school night champy, you should avoid the alcohol.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1960719999783367054

/mfw shooting someone in self-defence after they tried to bludgeon me with a brick is now a "colonial symbol"
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ForceFate said:
Only if you want to be and follow correct channels.
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No Longer. The AI answers:

On May 6, 2025, South Africa's Constitutional Court ruled that individuals cannot automatically lose their South African citizenship when acquiring another nationality, affirming the right to dual citizenship. This decision invalidated a previous law that required South Africans to apply for permission to retain their citizenship before obtaining foreign nationality.

. ey.com wolfsdorf.com

And another source:

 
TheChamp said:
I honestly don't feel like explaining again, just make peace with the fact that I hate the right wing lowlife and I take great pride in explicitly showing my feelings about it.
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What makes him right wing?
 
ToxicBunny said:
Anything that they don't like, or that is nasty to their mafia GLM is right wing don't you know?
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It's that hivemind effect, its cool to hate one someone because everyone else is doing it, same as those All Blacks supporters in CT, half of them don't even know why.
 
Agent69 said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1960682463073652899

"TIRED AND FRAIL". Bruv hasn't seen Malema lately.
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No need to compare her to a scumbag but one sees your point.

Helen would be way more energetic, ethical and competent than any of the political youngsters in SA. There is simply no competition. There is no need to be age-ist as long as people can maintain their competence.
 
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