Vusi Thembekwayo “Clarifies” His Apartheid Remarks

Vusi Thembekwayo might not be having the best start to the year. The leading motivational speaker who has earned millions of rands for public speaking is seemingly not getting the type of appreciation he used to get. First, it was his weird use of zebras and their stripes metaphor which did not land.

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.
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.

Motivation by Vusi Thembekwayo 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😄😄😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/z7b4ttqDc4
— Umnikazi Wenkani (@Boet_Themba) January 26, 2023

Then it was his sentiments on apartheid, which led many to believe that he was an apartheid sympathiser. As reported at the time:

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
… 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.

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

In light of the backlash, it seems that Thembekwayo has revisited his previous sentiments in an attempt to “clarify” his previous utterances.

Vusi Thembekwayo “clarifies” his apartheid remarks

Taking to his YouTube channel, Vusi Thembekwayo uploaded a video reflecting on his previous remarks suggesting that the apartheid regime was more capable. This was a stance he attempted to assert by using the passing of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and the investigation into his assassination as an example.

As such, he first started out by apologising to the Forbes family for using their misfortune for his contentious stance on apartheid.

#JusticeForAKA
“I’m desperately sorry that I’ve amplified your suffering by bringing you & your late son, AKA into this debate”🙏
Vusi Thembekwayo apologises to Kernan Forbes fam before clarifying what he meant on his interview w/ JJ Tabane🫡
DJ Fresh Sete Samke Londie Motsepe pic.twitter.com/A28VNtKMq8
— YaseBlock B 🇸🇿 (@ThisIsColbert) March 8, 2023

It seems that this was the only thing that made sense in the entire video as he attempted to nuance his stance by reiterating how “capable” the regime was despite the moral compass of their actions. But Thembekwayo made it clear that he was not backing down.

“You are not dealing with Vusi Thembekwayo that you dealt with 5 years ago.
I don’t care who you are & what political organization you belong to.” 🫢
This sounds personal, and very direct. If you know – you know! 😂
DJ Fresh Sete Londie #JusticeForAKA Motsepe Samke Centurion pic.twitter.com/Z9RewwPp7K
— YaseBlock B 🇸🇿 (@ThisIsColbert) March 8, 2023

As such, it seems that this was in preparation for his upcoming interview with Radio2000’s Aubrey Masango on Thursday, 9 March 2023, where the two are set to talk about, “Is it possible to recognise eptitude in an evil system like Apartheid? While recognising ineptitude in a legitimate dispensation like our current state?”

Tomorrow at 20h00, I speak to @VusiThembekwayo . Is it possible to recognise eptitude in an evil system like Apartheid? While recognising ineptitude in a legitimate dispensation like our current state? How do we have this conversation progressively? @Radio702 and @CapeTalk .
— Aubrey Masango (@BraAubrey) March 8, 2023

Following the tweet, it did not take long for Aubrey to receive backlash, as it was reiterated that apartheid was a crime against humanity. Therefore, attempting to find the “humanity” in it is sort of not only justifying apartheid but arguably glorifying a system which would have consciously excluded persons like Aubrey and Vusi…

Apartheid was a crime against humanity. What is your station’s editorial policy (they have one right?) on matters that are deemed to violate international law? Topic is ineptitude? So how do you have “progressive” convo with crime against humanity as your point of departure?🤔🤷🏿‍♀️ https://t.co/W9FuNwxglR
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) March 8, 2023

I’m not afraid of dissenting speech. I simply refuse to give credence to ahistorial and inflammatory views from people who spew half baked reasoning on critical issues. I’m not here for devil’s advocacy on very real and harmful issues.
— Tidimalo (@Tidimalo_22) March 8, 2023

Agreed. So why do you think you should be the only one that can be provided the platform to say so. Should others who may not have the platform you are not expressing yourself on also have the same opportunity?
— Aubrey Masango (@BraAubrey) March 8, 2023

Image credit: ZAlebs

Vusi Thembekwayo “Clarifies” His Apartheid Remarks

Related Posts