Magda Wierzycka apologises for Sharpeville Massacre tweet
South African billionaire Magda Wierzycka apologised on Wednesday for commemorating the Sharpeville Massacre in a tweet featuring a photograph of Hector Pieterson.
Businesswoman Magda Wierzycka is no stranger to Twitter wars. This week she received backlash after she tweeted the iconic picture of Hector Peterson in commemoration of Human Rights Day.
Wierzycka tweeted the iconic photograph of Pieterson’s body being carried away after he was shot during the Soweto uprisings on June 16‚ 1976.
Pieterson was one of the first people to be killed in the protests against the sole use of Afrikaans in schools.
“Let’s never forget March 21 1960‚” Wierzycka tweeted.
Human Rights Day commemorates the anti-pass demonstration outside the Sharpeville police station near Vereeniging on March 21‚ 1960 where 69 people were killed and close to 200 people were injured.
Protesters marched to the police station to hand over their passes and demanded an end to the pass laws before the police opened fire on the crowd.
Commentators were quick to rebuke Wierzycka‚ suggesting she needed to brush up on her history.
Wrong image- this is youth day “Soweto uprising” june16 1976.
— Leanne Manas (@LeanneManas) March 21, 2018
@Magda_Wierzycka Here are some Sharpeville images https://t.co/T5ZF4axWNk
— John Graham (@Housecheckjohn) March 21, 2018
Wierzycka apologised and said:
I apologise. This has always been the iconic image of the massacres that happened in SA. Never again.
— Magda Wierzycka (@Magda_Wierzycka) March 21, 2018
She later tweeted a photograph from Sharpeville.
Let’s not forget 21 March 1960. pic.twitter.com/EOox6tCFVo
— Magda Wierzycka (@Magda_Wierzycka) March 21, 2018
At the weekend‚ Wierzycka apologised and offered R200‚000 for job creation after tweeting: “I often get asked‚ how can I help SA? Our biggest challenge = job creation.
A thought: let every household employ just 1 more cleaning lady or gardener. Just 1. I know it’s a financial sacrifice. But we all need to sacrifice if we are to save SA.
Imagine the impact.”
Wierzycka later deleted her original tweet.
“I withdraw the comment. I thought it was a practical solution to a short-term serious problem of people living on social grants. I apologise if I offended anyone.”
So @Magda_Wierzycka has deleted her job creation tweet by employing domestic workers and gardeners. The point was not to silence you, Magda. Rather, to encourage you to be circumspect and sensitive. I hope deleting the tweet means a beginning of that process, for you.
— Nomboniso Gasa (@nombonisogasa) March 17, 2018