Idols judge in crude Twitter war
Unathi Msengana sends crude, insulting messages to student
IDOLS SA judge and radio host Unathi Msengana plunged herself deeper into hot water yesterday after sending vulgar messages to a 19-year-old who she disagreed with on Stellenbosch University’s Afrikaans language policy.
The furore started on Monday when Msengana trended and faced the public’s wrath on Twitter after she allegedly sided with the university’s controversial language policy.
That day Msengana had spoken on her Metro FM show about the Luister documentary that depicts how black students feel isolated at the university because of its language policy.
Speaking to Wits student Palomino Jama, Msengana allegedly said black students must have known when they enrolled there that Afrikaans was the primary language.
The back-and-forth spat between the two continued to escalate on Twitter, but seemed to draw to a close on Monday evening.
But then Jama revealed yesterday that Msengana had sent her a direct message on the platform, calling her a “psycho b***h”, after being angered by one of Jama’s tweets.
Jama had contributed to the trending #UnathiBeLike hashtag that was created to give examples of how Msengana’s logic apparently failed. Jama tweeted: “Wife gets beaten by husband. Unathi: Why didn’t you become a lesbian? You married him know in men can be abusive.”
An incensed Msengana sent Jama a number of messages saying: “Do you think insulting me, my marriage and my sexuality is going to change your situation? You’re a f***** idiot if so… you’re f***** delusional if you think you can get per- sonal. F*** your stupid mind. No amount is going to change our realities. You psycho b***h… F*** you twice over.”
Jama calmly explained that Msengana didn’t understand the tweet.
But Msengana was not deterred. Jama tweeted after the incident: “Nothing warrants me being f***ed twice over or being called a psycho b***h by a woman who is old enough to be my mother. Someone I had respect for.”
After Jama shared the screengrabs of the messages, many were enraged and defended Jama. They called for Msengana to be fired.
Jama’s mother Zukiswa tweeted: “@unathimsengana I was really shocked to read what you wrote to @ThisIsPalo, who is my 19-year-old daughter. Insults like that are beneath you.”
Msengana ignored the online storm and calls for an apology.
THE MANAGEMENT of Stellenbosch University is expected to be summoned to an urgent meeting of Parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education and training after a film highlighted students’ experiences of racism at the institution.
The film, Luister, which was released last week by Open Stellenbosch and Contraband Cape Town, has caused a stir on social media. It features 32 students who “offered their testimony of their lived experiences of the culture of racism and violence which continues 21 years into South Africa’s democracy”.
Yesterday, the portfolio committee announced that it would call the university’s management to an urgent meeting “in light of the latest allegations of racism and violence at the institution”.
They would be asked to table their transformation plans.
“We noted with serious concern the allegations of racism and violence at Stellenbosch University. We are 21 years into a democratic South Africa and such alleged acts certainly have no place in our society,” said committee chairwoman Yvonne Phosa.
“We urge the Stellenbosch University management to swiftly deal with these allegations. We are aware that there are some measures that the university has put in place to ensure that there is transformation at Stellenbosch University and that the institution becomes socially inclusive.
“But such efforts have to be speeded up to ensure that allegations such as those revealed in the Luister video are dealt with and do not rear their ugly head again in future. It is one thing to talk about plans which are on paper, but we would like to see those plans being implemented.”
Phosa said the issue of transformation at the university had been on the committee’s agenda and an oversight visit which had to take place last month had been cancelled “due to a number of factors on the university’s side”.
“Given the urgency of the matter, we are going to call the institution to Parliament as soon as possible. We want to be able to have a meaningful dialogue with the university leadership and impress upon them that the transformation of any public institution of higher learning cannot be postponed. What we are clear on is that we cannot have a situation whereby a public
‘The alleged acts have no place in our society’
university’s language policy serves as a barrier that ultimately shuts out some students from accessing higher education and training opportunities.”
She said the committee would take concrete action to address the issues raised.
“While we acknowledge that Afrikaans-speaking students have a right to be taught in the language they prefer, we also want to state that it is of paramount importance to recognise that any other students at the university (have) the right to access higher education in a language they are conversant with.”
In a statement on Sunday, the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers, said the management had “thoroughly taken note” of the video.
“We absolutely welcome the opportunity to engage with the portfolio committee on the issue of transformation at Stellenbosch University, to provide an update of progress and to share our wide-ranging plans,” he said.