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Load reduction, Tyla, and tragedies: What angered South Africans in 2024
From Tyla’s racial identity debate to devastating child deaths, here are five events that collectively angered South Africans in 2024.
Picture: iStock
As 2024 comes to an end, many South Africans are reflecting on the way and their experiences, whether good or bad.
As much as someone can enter the year with positive intentions and a positive attitude. However, it doesn’t work out like that.
There are situations and phenomena that anger the best of us, and sometimes a whole nation can share their collective anger.
Here are five things that angered South Africans collectively this year:
Tyla’s racial identity
South African superstar Tyla continues to make waves on the global stage; however, her proud description as “coloured” caused controversy.
Americans were up in arms over the word, as it has a painful racist history in the US and is no longer in use. South Africans did not just take this, however.
Many black and coloured South Africans stepped in online to defend the Grammy-winning singer’s right to define her own identity.
In June, she even posted a statement where she said, “I don’t expect to be identified as coloured outside of [South Africa] by anyone not comfortable doing so because I understand the weight of that word outside [South Africa]. But to close this conversation, I’m both coloured in South Africa and a black woman.”
ALSO READ: Tyla bags eight nominations at 2024 Billboard Music Awards
Load reduction
This year, numerous municipalities implemented load reduction, a distribution problem that occurs when the network distribution is overloaded.
To prevent transformers from overheating and catching fire, electricity is switched off during peak hours to reduce the load.
Residents were, however, angered as they viewed load reduction as an euphemism for load shedding.
Some residents also claimed that the only difference between load shedding and load reduction is that load reduction only targeted townships.
ALSO READ: No load reduction during matric exams which need electricity, says department [VIDEO]
Covid-19 beneficiary list
Shortly after Sport, Arts, and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, the department released an updated list of Covid-19 relief beneficiaries who were paid out more than R72 million during 2020-2021.
The first list was released in May 2020, and the money was used to support the artists during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when the country was under lockdown.
Some of the beneficiaries include the Rebecca Malope Foundation, Busiswa Qqulu, Dumisani Mbebe, Arthur Mafokate and his son, and Bethusile Mcinga.
The list however sparked mixed reactions. Singer Zandie Khumalo-Gumede was among those who did not understand the buzz around the matter and were angered by it.
“It was just R20 000 for me, and it was obtained legally… Must we now lose sleep? Stop playing with us. Hanging our names like this as if we went to the department and robbed their safe,” she said on Instagram.
ALSO READ: Department paid more than R72 million to artists during Covid-19 pandemic [List]
Chidimma Adetshina
The 23-year-old made headlines in July after entering the Miss South Africa competition.
However, there was massive controversy over Adetshina’s participation in the popular pageant in light of her having a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother, despite having been born and raised in South Africa.
The controversy ultimately resulted in Adetshina withdrawing from the contest citing safety concerns.
Her withdrawal followed a statement from Home Affairs, which alleged that her mother may have obtained her citizenship fraudulently by assuming another person’s identity.
She, however, wasn’t down for long as Adetshina fled to Nigeria, whose embassy granted her a diplomatic passport, and she was also given the opportunity to compete in the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant, which she won in late August.
She went on to become the first runner-up at Miss Universe 2024 in October.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Chidimma Adetshina makes ‘history’ after being crowned Miss Universe runner-up
Children’s deaths due to food-borne illnesses
South Africa faced a devastating food safety crisis in 2024 as food-borne illnesses claimed the lives of over 20 children.
From August, there were articles about children getting hospitalised or, even worse, passing away from suspected food poisoning that were published almost daily.
Community members shut down spaza shops across South Africa, blaming them for the incidents after children were hospitalised.
However, President Cyril Ramaphosa sparked anger among families of the deceased children and concerned citizens by waiting until November 15 to address the nation, despite at least 22 child deaths.
ALSO READ: Food poisoning: Foreigners are not the problem
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