Zindzi agreed to ‘constrain herself’ following controversial tweets – Pandor

Minister of International Affairs Naledi Pandor told 702 on Monday morning that she had reprimanded South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane for her recent series of controversial tweets in a phone call.

This comes as the first confirmation that the tweets, that were believed to be Mandela-Hlongwane’s, are actually hers, with Pandor telling host Bongani Bingwa that the ambassador had confirmed this was the case.

Pandor said she told Mandela-Hlongwane her tweets were not appropriate for a diplomat.

“I informed her that she is a diplomat and I expect diplomatic conduct from her, and that she should adhere to the social policy guiding how public servants should utilise social media.”

Mandela-Hlongwane told Pandor she sent the tweets after being provoked.

“She reported to me that she’d had weeks of what she termed ‘extreme provocation’ and degradation through various comments about her parents,” struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and former president Nelson Mandela.

Pandor said Mandela-Hlongwane agreed to “constrain herself and focus on stating government policy because, as our representative, she should be advancing the policy goals of South Africa”.

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

The minister stressed the fact that it was not Mandela-Hlongwane’s views on land but the “personal” nature of the tweets and their failure to adhere to the social media policy for public servants that she confronted the ambassador on.

“We are committed to addressing equality of access to land. So on the matter of land ownership changing, you can’t argue against that. However, once you begin as an ambassador to be personal, and to refer to individuals in a way that could be construed as personal, you then cross the border,” Pandor said.

“Therefore I said to her she must ensure that she recalls at all times that she’s a representative of the president and of South Africa in Denmark and must conduct herself in terms of that,” she continued.

Mandela-Hlongwane divided Twitter with a series of tweets that began with: “Dear Apartheid Apologists, your time is over. You will not rule again. We do not fear you. Finally #TheLandIsOurs.”

The tweet led to criticism from some white South Africans on Twitter. This led to a series of increasingly strongly-worded tweets, using the hashtag #OurLand, which inspired outrage from some and support from others, dividing Twitter along mostly, but not entirely, racial lines.

These included a tweet about “trembling white cowards” who are the “thieving rapist descendants of Van Riebeck [sic]” and one saying that Zindzi was “wondering how the world of shivering land thieves is doing” while out “wining and dining” at a restaurant.

In response to the tweets, AfriForum called for Pandor to recall Mandela-Hlongwane as ambassador. The DA backed-up the calls for her removal on Tuesday, and the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) called on the government to take action against her.

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