Helen Zille had a stark warning for online trolls this weekend, after winning a recent court case against the ANC Youth League.

The organisation have failed to pay the legal costs of the Western Cape premier, following a lengthy defamation case where they labelled her as a racist.

Helen Zille’s legal battle against the ANC Youth League

This has effectively bankrupted the ANCYL, leaving them unable to function and at the mercy of Zille herself. The cannot commit to financial transactions unless they are approved by the liquidators chosen by the former DA leader.

The law can be an ass, but in this case, it can also be devilishly ironic.

A timeous warning to the trolls an bots: the wheel turns. The ANC Youth League has now been declared bankrupt by the High Court for failing to pay my legal costs following the defamation case I brought against their then-leaders (Malema and Shivambu) for calling me “racist”. — Helen Zille (@helenzille) July 29, 2018

The case refers back to an incident in 2010, where both Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu – then of the ANCYL – were forced to make written apologies to Zille after accusing her of being racist.

Malema labelled Zille’s executive council as a “group of racist Helen Zille garden boys” and the premier was outraged with his behaviour. This was to be compounded by Shivambu, who inferred that the council was made up of her boyfriends and concubines.

What did the ANCYL owe Zille?

He also called her a racist, and that’s what prompted Zille into action. She won the defamation case but was made to wait for the costs to be repaid as per instruction of the courts.

It has since been revealed Zille has transferred her right to recover the costs, totalling R93 218.09 plus interest, to her advocate Hugo de Waal.