On Saturday, the South African Twittersphere was set into a fresh rage spiral following comments from Nelson Mandela’s former PA and confidant Zelda la Grange that president Jacob Zuma made white people feel unwelcome in the country.
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I'm sure comments like :unafrican to have dogs,stress is western creation,Van Riebeeck etc all good for investment in SA
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
Makes white people really feel welcome in SA. I think I'm calling Jan today to ask him what de hell he was thinking sailing to Africa.
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
The tirade, which went on for a number of tweets, echoed many of the frustrations which South Africans across the economic and social spectrum have felt with Zuma but, unfortunately, framed it within a racial narrative.
Many tweeters latched onto this, suggesting that the veil of the “rainbow nation” had slipped. The tone of some of the responses to la Grange meanwhile seemed to suggest that her relationship with Mandela was a facade and that she had harbored racist feelings all along.
Madiba was not wrong for reaching out to Zelda. But the exercise failed.
— Mayihlome (@MTshwete) January 17, 2015
This is something which la Grange fervently denied:
I don't know why you are making such noise. I speak out when Steve Hofmeyr is being racist and will do so if anyone blames race for anything
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
Interestingly, the interaction which some sections of the media were quick to call a twar — between la Grange and talk radio presenter Redi Thlabi — was perhaps the most sane today.
In order to see why, it is worth examining Thlabi’s response, which used academic rigor over emotion and sentiment, in full:
JZ's accusation that @MaxduPreez was racist is flawed but in countering it, you have played the race card yourself &"othered" whites…
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
JZ has a go at a lot of people ALL THE TIME; journalists, business, academics, talkshow hosts, judges, opposition MPs & many are black. …
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
It does not cross minds to "threaten" to leave or mobilise others to do so cos roots that make them South African cannot be annihilated…
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
They do not need to be "made" to feel welcome by JZ or anyone. It is home. I own a home with Brian. He does not have power to "welcome" me..
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
Yr lamentation about whites not welcome suggests that being South African is a plot u have internalised rather than an irrevocable identity
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
I don't understand why you need anyone to welcome you to your home unless at a deep level you function through the prism of "us" and "them"
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
And here is the crux Zelda, this prism is problematic because it contradicts your avowed script. That when JZ pisses you off, you afford
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
Yourself the option of leaving is jarring. It is not white taxes that have built Nkandla. It is South African taxes. White, black and so
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
You retreat to racial relativism when presidency's wrath was wrongly directed at a white journalist, yet many others have felt his wrath…
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
They do not feel the need to beg JZ to welcome them because it is not HIS call. I suspect that if you genuinely saw SA as your home you ..
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
Would also feel the same. If you didn't see the attack on Max as an attack on "YOUR" people, you would be less disconnected from your home..
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
I don't believe u r racist or faked your affection for Madiba as some are gleefully arguing. You had EVERY right to write your memoir BUT
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
Yr injudicious reaction to JZ suggests it is not he who is saying you are not welcome in SA. It is what YOU are hearing. Time to Explore WHY
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
I suspect answer lies in having consumed rainbow nation diet, without realising it compels us to fully attach to this land, without options
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
answer also lies in privilege not being arbiter of what "moving on" entails& when that journey must be completed. Thanks for reading Zelda
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) January 17, 2015
Compare that with the exchange that took place between sports minister Fikile Mbalula and EFF leader Julius Malema last year. It’s gossipy, full of allusions to information one has on the other and is about as far from the traditions of rigorous debate as a school ground fist fight. That is a twar.
Thalbi’s response to la Grange’s tweets is far from that. It’s a rare moment of lucidity and sanity that stands in sharp contrast to the usual frenzied witch hunt that accompanies most similar incidents on the social network.
La Grange meanwhile appeared to have considered at least some of the responses to her tweets and by the end of the day she had apologised.
1.I want to apologize to everyone who was offended by my tweets this am, even my apology tweets got taken as me justifying me hurting people
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
2. So this right now is just that a plain apology no buts.
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
3. Secondly I have to explain my train of thoughts, I am here telling you where I slipped and not where I fell.
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
4 I fell by generalizing an entire group in my attempt to show disdain to the Pres and his remarks about Max Du Preez
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
5. My example of a white man calling me a white whore looked like I was saying I have black friends and I defend black people
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
6…. all the time therefore I am exempt from a lashing when I do step out of line (like any other human) but that is simply not the case.
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
7. See I get victimized daily for my choice to believe in this nation daily, that is my reality and I live it. I choose it everyday
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
8. I have been in a relationship with my country and like any relationship It's good, bad, wonderful and terrible.
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
9. I accept that today was terrible but know that I will never stop being critical of power and it's freedom of power.
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
10. To those who say I am just a PA, you're right, like many people in SA who are just this/just that but can still be heard when unhappy
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
11. Colonization was a terrible
thing that happened to our
Country but I cannot erase it, no one can. Apologies for
glamorizing it but
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
12. there are times when it seems like it's regarded the only wrong thing to have happened to SA yet we have a system that wrongs everyday
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
12. Sorry if I had ruined your faith in me if it appeared like I was generalizing.
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
13. Madiba was the hardest on me and today an apology went to him for appearing to generalize and hurting people not part of my frustrations
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
14. On any day our democracy is better than apartheid, it's the only way and Ill defend it. But it doesnt mean we can't be critical of it
— Zelda (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) January 17, 2015
There will, inevitably, be those who do not accept the apology. That said, even the most hard-headed tweeter would have to admit that it shows making a mistake on Twitter doesn’t automatically mean descending into the kind of pariah who sues puppets.
