Ndlozi accuses Grootes of inciting ‘black on black violence’ by criticising his Kolisi tweet

The EFF spokesperson calls the journalist a 'little white boy' and mentions the Boipatong massacre in a bizarre response to a column arguing his tweet was divisive.


Following the backlash to his tweet congratulating Springboks captain Siya Kolisi for winning the Rugby World Cup on Sunday, but telling the rest of the team to go “get their congratulations from Prince Harry”, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has doubled down in a series of tweets.

The latest accuses journalist Stephen Grootes of trying to “appeal to black on black violence”, after Grootes wrote a column in Daily Maverick saying Ndlozi’s tweet “backfired” and arguing that “the sight of a united team of diverse players beating the best the rest of the world has on offer, is bad news” for the EFF, who are among those that “benefit from fanning divisions in society”.

According to Ndlozi, this amounted to Grootes, who he describes as a “little white boy”, “creating a picture that it’s us vs Siya”.

“Perfect white supremacists strategy to appeal to black on black violence as a way to resolve a legitimate criticism of false racial unity in South Africa,” he continued. What exactly within the column could be considered an incitement to violence is unclear.

Ndlozi then took things a step further, by accusing Grootes of wanting “a Boipatong on us”, referring to a massacre which occurred during the dying days of the apartheid regime in 1992, which saw 45 township residents, believed to be ANC supporters, killed by IFP-supporting hostel dwellers.

Once again Grootes does not seem to have written anything that warrants such a comparison. Requests for clarification sent to Ndlozi have not been responded to.

Grootes declined to comment but invited people to read the Daily Maverick column to see what he actually wrote.

READ MORE: Ndlozi, were you born an ass or did you just work hard to become one?

This follows Ndlozi responding to the backlash his initial tweet received: “It is actually tragic that you get excited to have minority black representation when blacks are a majority in this country; in AFRICA! Mxm… till when will you live a lie?”

In another tweet, he sought to shatter what he believed was the “lie” of “unity” following the Springboks victory.

“[Until Monday] morning when blacks with massive education qualifications report to whites with matric. Unity for what? For who? On whose land? [Until Monday] when white-owned banks refuse to give black entrepreneurs funding. Never live a lie, even when it feels good!”

His tweet just after the South African rugby team won the 2019 World Cup was met with fierce criticism.

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