Simphiwe Dana slammed for naming Ramaphosa ‘worst SA president ever’

Were Simphiwe Dana's comments about President Ramaphosa misunderstood? Here's what we found out:

By / / Viral
simphiwe dana

Simphiwe Dana would’ve learned a very important lesson about sharing political opinions on social media after Monday’s events.

Why is ‘Thuma Mina Twitter’ mad at Simphiwe Dana?

The Afro-soul legend may have expected push-back on her hot-take about President Cyril Ramaphosa but, surely, she could not have fathomed the scale of ire she drew from Thuma Mina sympathists.

In a single tweet that’s ruptured keyboard politics, Dana tagged Ramaphosa as “the worst president we have [ever] had.

Was Dana’s tweet grossly misinterpreted?

Of course, there are many ways to digest this statement. If by ‘we’, Dana was referring to black South Africans, then Ramaphosa’s performance as head of state would have to be pit against former presidents Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma.

Generally speaking, one could have a hard time agreeing with Dana if, for instance, we were to encompass past heads of state that ruled over apartheid South Africa.

Perhaps, Dana’s sentiments were triggered by recent events surrounding South Africa’s arts and culture industry that’s taken the hardest blow from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The musician has been heavily involved in the sit-in protests that, for nearly two months, have taken place at the National Arts Council offices in Johannesburg.

Led by opera singer Sibongile Mngoma, artists and other entertainment creatives have staged a sit-in at the NAC headquarters, calling on Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa to address the industry’s financial losses due to restrictions that have, for the most part, hackered the live events and music sector.

While Dana has not been listed as a central member of the sit-in, she has used her platform on a number of occasions to shine a light on the protest.

Interestingly, her tweet on Ramaphosa came moments after she had posted this:

Social media reacts to Dana’s tweet

In an age where context matters none, most of the backlash over Dana’s tweet was, for the most part, grossly misunderstood. The Afro-soul’s comments, from our investigation, were made out of frustration with Ramaphosa’s silence over the two-month-long protest action led by creatives in SA.

To be fair, it has been quite the tumultuous tenure for a president who, since he took up office at the Union Buildings, has had to steer the country out of junk status with a global pandemic hot on his tail.

Alas, here are some of the reactions we picked out from social media on the Dana saga: