Wierzycka to quit Twitter after backlash over controversial tweets

After receiving backlash from tweeps on Wednesday for mistakenly posting the iconic photo of a dying Hector Pieterson in the 1976 Soweto uprising to commemorate the victims of the Sharpeville Massacre, billionaire businesswoman Magda Wierzycka has had enough of Twitter.

Even though she has apologised for the blunder, Wierzycka told Times Select on Thursday that the criticism she has received for the photo succeeded in silencing her voice on the social media platform.

.

“I don’t believe that a two-minute mistake in an upload of a photograph and which I corrected immediately – but not quickly enough for someone to take a snapshot – is a story,” she said.

Wierzycka told the online publication that she found it “appalling” that credible journalists were using this to attack her credibility. She referenced a similar mistake by the department of international relations and cooperation, which also posted the same picture on Twitter.

.

Wierzycka said: “They have achieved one thing. A voice silenced. Pity‚ as it was a forum through which many people in need reached out to me. I am upset and saddened‚ but so be it.”

This is not the first time though that she has been criticised on Twitter. At the weekend, Wierzycka was censured for suggesting that more domestic workers and gardeners were needed to deal with unemployment in the country.

She ended up pledging R200 000 towards job creation as a peace offering for her controversial tweet on jobs.

Wierzycka tweeted at the time: “I often get asked‚ how can I help SA? Our biggest challenge = job creation. A thought: let every household employ just 1 more cleaning lady or gardener. Just 1. I know it’s a financial sacrifice. But we all need to sacrifice if we are to save SA. Imagine the impact.”

She later deleted the tweet and apologised to anyone who might have been offended by her message.