Is Vusi Thembekwayo An Apartheid Sympathiser?

Vusi Thembewkwayo might be one of the most well-known public and motivational speakers to helm from South Africa. A fact which has made the businessman and orator a millionaire. However, that does not mean that everything he says has the same impact or depth that he might think it has.

In the past, Thembekwayo was known for his Twitter feud with media personality and broadcaster Sizwe Dhlomo. This is as Sizwe did not believe what Thembekwayo was selling. However, in recent months, it seems that more of the public is also catching on as they continue to take him to task over some of his utterances.

Is Vusi Thembekwayo an apartheid sympathiser?

It started when a clip from Vusi Thembekwayo’s recent interview with JJ Tabane was circulated. The interview was essentially focused on the corruption at Eskom allegedly involving the ruling party. However, then Thembekwayo used the example of how the mystery surrounding the assassination of Hip-Hop local legend Kiernan “AKA’ Forbes would have been resolved if the country still had the apartheid regime.

@VusiThembekwayo on the Apartheid government.
He tweeted yesterday that you can be both capable AND evil… those two are not mutually exclusive. pic.twitter.com/zYmi8zTrre
— Penuel The Black Pen (@GodPenuel) March 1, 2023

Of course, the moment the clip went viral, many attacked Thambekwayo for his sentiments. Primarily as apartheid was a system which aimed at benefiting the minority rather than the majority.

But Thembekwayo was still defensive about the matter. This is as he took to Twitter to attempt to nuance his stance better in order to contextualise his stance. As such, he stated that his sentiments were not to say that apartheid was better. Instead, he asserts that he used the example to nuance how the apartheid government was more capable than the current ruling party in addressing socio-political matters.

As such, he explains that this was not to suggest that the apartheid system was more “humane” or more “moral” than the current political system. Instead, that the “management” had a better system than the one we are currently living under.

I’ve always known Vusi Thembekwayo isdididi.
This confirms it. https://t.co/AIdrATx5R1
— Former Kleva Black🇿🇦 🇿🇦 (@SneKhumaloSA) February 28, 2023

I see a number of comments saying, they were capable of taking care of their minority.
That’s precisely my point: they built a capability to serve their own agenda. Evil but self-serving.
My question is this, have we demonstrated our capability at serving our own agenda?
— VT (@VusiThembekwayo) February 28, 2023

It seems Vusi Thembekwayo backtracked on Facebook after making those senseless comments that apartheid government was “efficient” in the context of service delivery, and has retreated to arguing that it was efficient in the execution of its apartheid policy. pic.twitter.com/ckP8pmfLwK
— Abednego (@abednego82) March 1, 2023

The fact that most of the people that agree with Thembekwayo on his timeline are white does not seem to ring the alarm that many people of colour are attempting to nuance to him.

But this is not the first time that Thembekwayo has landed in trouble for using problematic examples blanketed by his well-articulated manner of speaking. As reported at the time:

It all started when a tweep shared a video of one of Vusi Thembekwayo’s latest motivational talks. In the clip shared the motivational speaker is using the metaphor of the Zebra’s stripes and the fact that they are diagonal rather than straight to explain how business people choose the safest decisions to make their business work instead of wanting to stand out.
Motivation by Vusi Thembekwayo 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😄😄😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/z7b4ttqDc4
— Umnikazi Wenkani (@Boet_Themba) January 26, 2023
Safe to say when the clip landed on the blue app, tweeps were ready and armed with jokes, confusion and the suggestion that even he knew that what he was talking about did not make sense.
As a result, Thembekwayo himself took to the blue app to assert that he knew he was trending. Moreover, he seemed to laugh with the tweeps that had made the clip viral by seeing that what he was saying was not make sure.

Ugangile uBhungane.
But nazo ke.
The video is too short: I was trying to explain Darwin’s theory.
Eish. pic.twitter.com/jmZi1iJn54
— VT (@VusiThembekwayo) January 27, 2023

Image credit: ZAlebs

Is Vusi Thembekwayo An Apartheid Sympathiser?

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