WATCH: Gloves off! Nkoana-Mashabane hits back after 'bizarre' Al Jazeera interview

International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane has hit back after her "bizarre" Al Jazeera interview.

The TV interview, done at the global news network's studios in Doha, Qatar, by South African-born journalist Jane Dutton, went viral on social media.

The minister was criticised for her "bizarre" answers to many of the questions.

Speaking to the Sunday Times this week, Nkoana-Mashabane accused Dutton and the network of deviating from the agreed focus of the interview. She said Dutton had asked her "derogatory questions" about President Jacob Zuma.

"Instead of it being a good interview about the Middle East and South Africa, she asked nothing about Qatar. Zero," said Nkoana-Mashabane

"The reality is that she [Dutton] is a South African who happened to have been an anchor for Al Jazeera and she really took the gloves off and became a South African in opposition rather than a journalist," said the minister at OR Tambo House in Pretoria this week.

Read the full story on Sunday Times