EWN reporter Barry Bateman insults Julius Malema and sparks hilarious Twitter trend

Eyewitness News reporter Barry Bateman got South Africans on Twitter giggling after calling EFF leader Julius Malema a “p**s” at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Caught on camera, Bateman can be seen attempting to turn off his microphone after Malema is done speaking before he uses the derogatory word.

Julius Malema “Me, I’m not scared boet, uniform or no uniform, Afrikaner or no Afrikaner, white or pink, I deal with you decisively.” pic.twitter.com/01LGQUVP1z

— Man’s Not Barry Roux  (@AdvBarryRoux) September 10, 2019

Subsequently, the moment trended as South Africans shared the video, and by Wednesday morning #poes took the number one spot on Twitter.

🤣You gotta love Southy 🇿🇦. We waking up with #poes trending on number 1😂😂😂😂. Kumele sibe serious manje🤣 pic.twitter.com/uSOw7npoY3

— Uncle Sizwe 🇿🇦 (@LordSizwe) September 11, 2019

Some users gave the video a slight tweak for added humour too.

📰BATEMAN vs MALEMA📰

Let’s see what happens to Barry Bateman.

Never a dull moment is South Africa 🇿🇦#POES pic.twitter.com/l3A9EuRQit

— 🇿🇦Thabang Mantutle🇱🇸 (@ThabangMantutle) September 11, 2019

Eyewitness News, meanwhile, apologised on behalf of Bateman for his “foul language”.

Eyewitness News unreservedly apologises to the @EFFSouthAfrica‘s leader, @Julius_S_Malema, for the foul language used by its reporter, Barry Bateman. https://t.co/UqO0Yq4AvM pic.twitter.com/x6yDj0qO4m

— Eyewitness News (@ewnupdates) September 10, 2019

Still, South Africans couldn’t help but find the entire scenario hilarious.

And a whole #poes is trending pic.twitter.com/pJYKedL45d

— Tracy (@TracyL__) September 10, 2019

The mini heart attack I got when a saw #Poes trending at number one. pic.twitter.com/Gp6FCeCjmK

— Nangamso Zibele (@fabulositiiii) September 10, 2019

Only in South Africa will #poes trend for all correct reasons. I love my beautiful country pic.twitter.com/AHWH71Qawh

— Bra Bonny (@LebonaMoleli) September 11, 2019

Barry Bateman has since changed his Twitter account to “protected” so that only approved followers can see his tweets.

Feature image: screenshot, @MalkopMedia via Twitter