draadsitter

English

Etymology

From Afrikaans draadsitter, from draad (“wire, fence”) +‎ sitter (“sitter”), probably a calque of English fence sitter.

Noun

draadsitter (plural draadsitters)

1. (South Africa, chiefly politics) A fence sitter.
   • 1998 May 13, news.iop.co.za, “SARFU”, in rec.sport.rugby.union‎^[1] (Usenet):

     Silas Nkanunu - vice President under Luyt, last week was the only time he stood up to Luyt and that was when he was sure of Luyt's demise, in my opinion a bit of a 'draadsitter'

   • 2000 December 28, Ron McGregor, “Re: Who said what?”, in soc.culture.zimbabwe‎^[2] (Usenet):

     It is now very un-PC to attribute this comment to Humpty-Dumpty, who, as we all know, was male, white and middle-aged. And the only proof that he wasn't an Afrikaans pale male is the fact that he was a wall-sitter instead of a draadsitter.

   • 2004 February 18, Max, “Re: They forgot a few things...”, in soc.culture.south-africa.afrikaans‎^[3] (Usenet):

     u better decide who you´re going to join, the peckies or the boers, the englishmen will never amount to anything. draadsitter.

Further reading

• draadsitter in the Dictionary of South African English, Rhodes University.