‘Baas John’ didn’t speak but ‘shouted empty noises’ – Ndlozi on #JohnSpeaksForMe

EFF parliamentary member Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has said that Democratic Alliance (DA) interim leader John Steenhuisen “did not actually speak” during a heated SABC interview on Thursday night.

A clip of Steenhuisen’s intense interview with SABC anchorwoman Flo Letoaba went viral following the exchange.

During the interview, Letoaba asked Steenhuisen which South Africans he spoke for, in reference to the DA’s court action challenging the rationality of the night curfew, restrictions on e-commerce and the limited three-hour window for exercise during the nationwide lockdown.

Letoaba’s question came after Steenhuisen had told her the court action followed discussions he had been having with apparently fed-up South Africans who wanted the lockdown to be eased.

By Friday the hashtag #JohnSpeaksForMe was trending on Twitter, with many tweeting about the hardships brought about by the lockdown.

However, some Twitter users were of the view that Steenhuisen spoke only for a certain sector of South African society.

Ndlozi, the EFF’s former spokesperson, was of the view that Steenhuisen had not actually spoken during the interview “but shouted in empty noises when asked #WhichSouthAfricans?”

I see #JohnSpeaksForMe is trending. But Baas John did not actually speak… he shouted in empty noises when asked #WhichSouthAfricans? Here is proof: pic.twitter.com/vUSKdPwCR2

— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) May 15, 2020

Earlier, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu had said Steenhuisen was speaking “on behalf of the white capitalist establishment”, following his calls for the national Covid-19 lockdown to end “swiftly”.

Here are some of  the tweets from #JohnSpeaksForMe:

But when the interviewee is an illicit cigarette dealing, tax evading son of a crook, this is the noble journalistic ethos. You couldn't make this up. #JohnSpeaksForMe https://t.co/lOQy86p5M5

— Jacques Maree (@JacquesMaree73) May 15, 2020

https://twitter.com/ZolaNdwandwe/status/1261275245132087296?s=20

#JohnSpeaksForMe Kanti White Twitter exists? pic.twitter.com/gAP0ji38wf

— XUFFLER 🐐 (@XUFFLER) May 15, 2020

John doesn't speak for people of Alex, Dutywa,Nongoma, Nquthu, Malamulele,Gugulethu,Ficksburg but he speaks for Stellenbosch, Sandton and Ballito #JohnSpeaksForMe#JohnSteenhuisenMustVoetsek

— Azania (@azania1023) May 15, 2020

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)

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