The City of Joburg found itself on the receiving end of backlash for seemingly shading the 2022 Soweto derby winners Kaizer Chiefs in a viral tweet.
City of Joburg shades Kaizer Chiefs: Here’s how social media reacted
Things got heated in the comments of a tweet the City posted on Tuesday morning. While it’s unclear who authorised the viral tweet going public, they clearly must’ve still been recovering from the painful loss AmaKhosi handed Orlando Pirates at FNB Stadium on Saturday, 29 October 2022.
The first crowd-attended Soweto derby since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was packed with top-tier action from both sides. The game was fixing up to be a stalemate, but a moment of magic from Chiefs attacker Yusuf Maart broke the tie in the 74th minute.
Maart, from the halfway line, booted a whizzing lob that befuddled Buccaneers’ goalie Mpontshane, who was caught napping metres away from his post.
The spectacular netter, which, in all likelihood, will notch the prize for ‘goal of the season’, was the decider in the fixture and Chiefs fans walked off with the bragging rights.
However, for the City of Joburg’s account manager, the pain of losing in such fashion to an arch-rival haunted them days later. In the tweet that’s since gone viral, the City reminded Joburgers to “throw your litter in the bin,” referencing a picture of a Kaizer Chiefs jersey sticking out of a metal trash bin.
Chiefs, whose home base is ironically in the City of Joburg, did not take too kindly to the jab.
“Disappointing…we are part of the City of Joburg…” the football club replied.
In the face of backlash, the City’s Twitter account doubled down on the shade and mocked Chiefs fans for being ‘hungry lions’.