‘Hands off Zindzi Mandela’, say her many Twitter supporters

As a divisive series of tweets allegedly from Zindzi Mandela with the hashtag #OurLand continues to trend on Twitter, many voices have reacted to the backlash caused by the tweets by showing support for her.

The Citizen reported on Saturday that a series of tweets from an unverified Twitter account believed to belong Zindzi – one of the daughters of Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as well as South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark – had caused outrage but also garnered support.

READ MORE: Zindzi Mandela lashes out at ‘trembling white cowards’ and ‘shivering land thieves’

Opinions seem to be divided along mainly but not entirely racial lines, with many white people expressing outrage. Those offended include DA councillor Renaldo Gouws, who slammed the “mainstream media” for failing to call Zindzi a “racist” and a “bigot” in one of a series of tweets on the matter, and AfriForum, which has released a statement calling for Mandela to be recalled as ambassador.

READ MORE: Mbalula and Malema respond to Zindzi Mandela’s #OurLand tweets

There has, however, been significant support for Mandela as well. EFF leader Julius Malema has retweeted some of those supporting her, and 5FM presenter Thando Thabethe took to Twitter to calling for “Hands off #ZindziMandela”.

Below are some of the tweets expressing support for Zindzi:

These tweets of support are a reaction to those outraged by the tweets. Many but not all of those expressing anger or criticism are white.

The Citizen reported on Saturday that Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula reacted to one of Zindzi’s tweets with what some interpreted as a call for restraint. This response was questioned by Malema.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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