Among those who disagreed with her were other DA members, such as Mbali Ntuli, who stated that colonialism was "only" negative, and who herself faces a disciplinary hearing in 2017 for "liking" in December 2016 a Facebook comment that characterised Zille as racist; Phumzile van Damme, who stated that there was not "a single aspect of that can be said to be positive or beneficial to Africans"; and party leader Mmusi Maimane, who stated "Colonialism‚ like Apartheid‚ was a system of oppression and subjugation. It can never be justified," but also said in the aftermath that Zille was not a racist and that she had "consistently fought oppression". DA MP Ghaleb Cachalia defended Zille as well-intentioned. He agreed with her that colonialism was not solely negative, and noted that many prominent intellectuals, including Chinua Achebe, Ali Mazrui, Godfrey Mwakikagile and Manmohan Singh, have expressed similar sentiments.