Oppressed women

Conversations about the oppression of black women trended on Twitter on Monday after @Chris_Moagi shared a thread with videos and photographs of people protesting: “Women from Dobsonville, Soweto are out in the street protesting after there have been cases of rape and housebreaking. They are saying police are not helping women who are under seige in the area and they don’t feel safe.” This generated 809 retweets and 783 likes. 

Later, @wildfonts retweeted an original post by @mhealananda from the weekend: “Why are so many black men horrifically violent toward women? I see it so often on here. Videos people post, images that black people post on twitter as they brag about the violence… it’s creepy.” This received 1,100 retweets and 1,800 likes. 

Disapproving of this, @wildfonts quoted it in a retweet: “Why do white women feel empowered to say stupid ass shit like this as though they haven’t been horrifically violent to Black women and other non-white women, Black men and any other non-white people all throughout history.” This received 195 retweets and 427 likes.

On Monday, 20 July, Twitter user @valavoosh shared an 11-part thread of one of the lesser-known women leaders of pre-colonial South Africa. The initial tweet read, “Kgosi Sekonyela of BaTlôkwa died on this day in 1856 in Herschel district in the Eastern Cape. I want to talk about his mother Queen Mantatisi, one of the most powerful and most feared military and political leaders of the early years of the Mfecane.” This gained traction with over 1,000 retweets and 2,000 likes.

Relationships and romance

Several tweets detailing people’s views on romantic relationships resonated with thousands of Twitter users on Monday. @dablacrapunzel shared an image posted by @sonoanthonyy declaring that “physical touch is really my love language”. The tweet received over 31,500 retweets and over 100,000 likes globally. 

@_niphss posted,“Tomorrow marks 365 days with the love of my life. 💔 it hurts that I can’t be with her. Hurts that we can’t even celebrate. 💔 IT HURTS!!! IT HURTS!!! IT HURTS!!!” This was liked and retweeted almost 1,000 times. Another user, @nyaopeType, yearning for a partner, tweeted, “Guys I’m looking for a boyfriend, please rt for awareness ❤️,” which was liked over 4,700 times and received over 4,100 retweets. 

@Prime_suv declared, “A good wife is a gift from God, a good husband is a guy from KZN.” This was liked and retweeted almost 2,000 times.

@KNaomi_N and @jesssra both shared similar sentiments that were liked and shared widely. @KNaomi_N tweeted, “…get rid of toxic people in your life, this pandemic is already stressful to deal with 🙏🏽.” This was liked and retweeted over 4,200 times. 

@AmalaSilwana shared her approach to relationships: “i’m such a ‘yoh ha.a ngcono siyeke’ type of person. andizthandi iforced vibes.” The tweet, which loosely translates to, “I am a ‘we better stop’ type of person… I don’t like forced vibes,” was liked over 6,300 times and retweeted over 2,400 times. 

@Neo_url shared her view on the behaviour of others: “Nothing annoys me like people who live a life of debauchery, having all the sex, doing all the drugs, yeeting all the fetuses and then when they are older & ready to calm down they want to get all moralistic & conservative. Where was the holy spirit in your 20s? & in your 30s?” This was liked and retweeted almost 1,000 times. 

Buy South African  

“I want to start a hashtag #BuySouthAfrican On that day we ALL commit to buying goods & services made here at home & we post online to give the business owners some shine. Who’s in? What day should we choose?” tweeted Vusi Thembekwayo. The tweet received over 12,500 likes, 3,700 retweets and 1,200 comments, with people sharing their support for the initiative, promoting various businesses and offering advice. 

@Hazel_mahazard replied, “I’m all for black business but while we at it can we encourage black business owners to own the value chain, they must make/produce/manufacture their own products, this thing of buying in bulk from Europeans or Asians rebranding & reselling is overdone & has no real value.” This tweet received 397 likes and 78 retweets.

Katlego Maseng shared a tweet about Botebo Wines, a black female-owned vineyard and label. He tweeted, “Meet the owner of a 48-hectare vineyard and a wine label, Botebo Wines, Tebogo Ditsebe (52). Ditsebe managed to turn a neglected vineyard into a thriving success. She was born in Kimberley in the Northern Cape. Today, she employs 3 full-time workers & 30 to 50 seasonal workers.” The tweet received over 3,800 likes, 1,400 retweets and 35 comments, with people asking where and how they can purchase the wine.

Top phrases trending on Monday

Ivyn Sambo shared a tweet to promote Indiza Tea. He tweeted, “I proudly #BuySouthAfrican products such as this amazing teas by house of Indiza Tea. They are an amazing indigenous healthy tea which are made by an amazing group of women from Limpopo. For more information please check them out here @IndiZAFoods.” The tweet received 187 likes and 56 retweets.

Actor apologises

An explicit video of SK Khoza, an actor on the TV show The Queen which airs on Mzansi Magic, was leaked on social media. The video depicts the actor and others partying with several women who are dancing naked in a living room. The video, shared by @DjTukza_ZA and others, has been viewed over 85,000 times.

@king_mnisi shared a video interview of Khoza apologising. This video was viewed over 178,000 times, with the tweet being retweeted and liked over 5,700 times. @MySoulMiAlma criticised the women in the video in a tweet, which was liked over 1,300 times and retweeted over 300 times. The actor later apologised in a tweet that read, “My actions were unacceptable, I beg for forgiveness. I take full responsibility, especially at a time we are faced with a serious pandemic. I should have made better decisions. I need to do better. To everyone I have disappointed and hurt, I am truly sorry 🙏🏽.” The tweet was liked over 16,600 times and retweeted over 3,500 times. 

Kaunda Ntunja

Conversations about the death of rugby commentator Kaunda Ntunja gained significant traction, as highlighted under the top topics by snapshot, volume and burst. On Monday 20 July, @tandontunja shared two images – one of which contained a statement from the family. The tweet read, “[NTUNJA FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE PASSING OF KAUNDA NTUNJA] Cc @avee01, @SuperSportTV. Email: [email protected] for all media and related queries.” This generated over 1,000 retweets and 918 likes. 

Allen Booi

On Monday @TvMzansi tweeted:“The legendary actor Allen Booi passed on this morning. We would like to extend our sincere condolences to family & friends. He was well known for his roles on TV shows like Tsha Tsha, Igazi, Isidingo, Zone 14, After Nine, Generations, Backstage amongst others. #RIPAllenBooi”. The tweet was liked and retweeted over 300 times. @TrinityManageSA also shared the news, along with some portraits of the actor. This tweet was liked and retweeted almost 13,000 times. 

Ayanda Mbatyothi

A well-known impersonator of the beloved former president Nelson Mandela died after contracting Covid-19. @News24 tweeted a link to their article reporting that Ayanda Mbatyothi died on 19 July after fighting the virus for over two weeks. The tweet was liked and shared over 1,000 times. Many replies expressed dismay at the news, such as the tweet by @NaVhugala which read, “I’m tired of reading about death, it’s so sad Disappointed face May he Rest In Peace.” DM 

The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) is a non-profit organisation based at UCTs Graduate School of Business and incubated by the Allan Gray Centre for Values-Based Leadership. It was established to track and counter mis- and disinformation, fake news and divisive and polarising rhetoric that is promulgated online to undermine social cohesion, democratic integrity, and the stability of nation states.