Floyd Shivambu deletes embarrassing tweet exposing his terrible maths

EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu’s tweet in which he attempted to take issue with a statistic proffered by talk radio host and writer Eusebius McKaiser rapidly backfired on Friday morning.

He wrote: “All of us must unite against GBH [grievous bodily harm] & toxic masculinities. We should also be factual on basic stats. If 1,095 women are killed every year in SA, it means the number is 399 675 annually. That’s ridiculously & logically FALSE because OVERALL annual murder rate in SA is approx 20 000.”

McKaiser had written that, according to the latest crime stats, 1,095 women are killed every year at the hands of their partners in South Africa.

1,095 women are killed every year at the hands of their partners in South Africa. 

There simply is #NoExcuse for women abuse.

I choose to honour the lives of these women sharing my #16SecondsofSilence pledge – to do better to smash the toxic masculinities that fuel violence. pic.twitter.com/0MKSHKPTq8

— Eusebius McKaiser (@Eusebius) December 7, 2018

For some reason, Shivambu hadn’t realised that “every year” in fact means “annually”. He appeared to have read McKaiser’s tweet as meaning 1,095 women are killed every day (since 1,095 multiplied by 365 gives you 399,675) – though it’s unclear how he came to this misjudgment.

The website Politwoops kept a record of his tweet from Friday morning here.

Floyd Shivambu’s deleted tweet.

The reactions, predictably, were brutal, especially considering that Shivambu prides himself on his intellectualism and the fact that he’s on his way to getting a PhD. He also recently made fun of John Steenhuisen for only having a matric qualification.

Take a look at some of the reactions below:

Maths is showing Shivambu flames. pic.twitter.com/RDHKlVJIho

— Andries Moseamedi (@DruserAndries) December 7, 2018

Floyd Shivambu seems to be lost in space on this one, but this is a common problem,,,when someone misunderstands and then goes to form a premise based on false understanding https://t.co/BDVArtpSKS

— Gugulethu (@MadiggaKM) December 7, 2018

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/AFRaF1c0FQ

— Mbathane Matshaya 🇿🇦 (@MbataneMatshaya) December 7, 2018

Well now.

I guess this explains those Canadian account numbers doesn't it. https://t.co/EYL27r4SYH

— Ad Homonym (@jean_leroux) December 7, 2018

https://twitter.com/AdvBarryRoux/status/1070980702571761664

Shivambu and Julius celebrating their Maths paper pic.twitter.com/tl60lTNAej

— simaxis (@simaxis) December 7, 2018

Floyd Shivambu (EFF), graduate…. 30% maths pass rate? pic.twitter.com/ILvCNR2y4N

— Danie Malan (@Danie_Malan) December 7, 2018

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