Monday’s Twitter wars have encapsulated the attention of Mzansi’s netizens after Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula went into a fit of rage and blacked out in a series of fiery tweets aimed at his party’s military veterans wing.
MKMVA protesters call for the arrest of Fikile Mbalula
As reported by News24, long-time serving members of UMkhonto WeSizwe’s Military Veterans Association (or MKMVA) took to the streets on Monday, in protest against rising poverty in South Africa, rampant levels of corruption and the decay of state entities like the Passenger Railway Association of South Africa (Prasa).
The political army veterans marched to Luthuli House and the office of Gauteng Premier David Makhura to hand over a memorandum of demands, including a plea to have Mbalula arrested and charged for the damage of the country’s railway system.
Mbalula responds in a fiery series of tweets
Away from the streets, two political powerhouses of the African National Congress (ANC) were going at it on Twitter. Much of the onslaught came from the transport minister who seemed perturbed by the actions taken by people he described as thugs disguised in the uniform of the MKMVA.
Particularly, Mbalula targeted MKMVA president Kebby Maphatsoe and its spokesperson Carl Niehaus.
To say that no bars were held would be a gross understatement. The transport minister went off on Maphatsoe and Niehaus, revealing shocking claims about the former and berating the latter as a thug “employed by [Ace] Magashule at Luthuli House.”
10 outrageous tweets from Mbalula’s Twitter account
Some tweets were deleted and others the minister left on his timeline. Here are 10 outrageous tweets posted by the minister.
In response to the rant, Niehaus demanded an apology from Mbalula for his tweets.
“Minister [Mbalula], this is enough! You don’t call MK cadres, many of them much older than you, thugs. Some of these cadres are old enough to be your parents. These are cadres who sacrificed their lives for our freedom, yours too, and are suffering neglect & poverty. RESPECT!” he charged on Twitter.
The minister refused and stood firm in his words, reminding his detractors that they know where to find him.