Thabo Mbeki's call for 'action to be taken against' Zindzi Mandela has Mzansi fuming

UPDATE: The Thabo Mbeki Foundation has denied saying he wants action to be taken against Zindzi Mandela. The foundation released a statement detailing what it claims is the context to the story published.

Former president Thabo Mbeki has called on the government to assess the country’s ambassador to Denmark, Zindzi Mandela-­Hlongwane, should her tweets on land be found to contradict what President Cyril Ramaphosa has said on the issue.

On June 14, Mandela created a stir on social media after her "apartheid apologists" and "land thieves" tweets went viral.

Her tweets divided social media users, including politicians. The DA and AfriForum called for her to be recalled, while the EFF defended her. Some even suggested that her tweets opposed her parents' teachings - but Mandela maintained that she was not accountable to anyone for her views.

According to a Sunday Tribune report, Mbeki said no ambassador should represent their own views.

“There’s no ambassador who represents themselves and if Zindzi Mandela’s tweets are inconsistent with what the president is saying, then that cannot be allowed," he said.

"The president I know has been very insistent on this, that land reform must be done on a constitutional and legal basis and such amendments of the constitution are to clarify the circumstance in which you would expropriate land without compensation.”

Mbeki added that Mandela's comments were indulging in hate speech.

The EFF condemned Mbeki's reported call for action to be taken against Mandela.

In a statement shared on Twitter, the party said Mandela correctly made observations that white people in SA were beneficiaries of stolen land and that "in essence, black people do not need the consent of white people to take back their land ... because, even by international law, colonialism is an unforgivable crime against humanity."

The EFF said Mbeki had "failed with flying colours to resolve the land question" when he was president, adding that Mandela's sentiments represented the "genuine cry of many generations of African people who want to call this country their own".

Many South Africans agreed with the EFF's statement. Here is a snapshot of some of the top reactions: