Johannesburg - The ANC Jozi Twitter account had hundreds of people up in arms on Wednesday, with many posting what they viewed as a “sexist” plea for voters to register.
The @ANCJHB account tweeted: “What do make of this new ANC swimwear? #Registration Week #VoteANC.”
Along with the tweet was a picture of a woman wearing a revealing swimsuit in the ANC colours.
The picture had been doing the rounds on social media for a few days before the tweet, and the swimwear was associated with the colours of the Jamaican flag instead.
Tweeters responded almost immediately on Wednesday by lambasting the ruling party’s choice of image and words.
@nomorebullSA wrote: “@ANCJHB Your continued lack of respect for women is incredible. They’re our sisters, not campaigning tools for leering old men. Wow!”
The ANC soon deleted the tweet, and tweeted an apology, which read: “Comrades, we apologise for the tweet we posted earlier, it was inappropriate.”
But their apology did little to pacify everyone, with many not accepting it or rejecting it outright.
@solkganyago scolded the party, saying: “@ANCJHB Don’t apologise for a tweet... apologise for objectifying women, that’s what the outrage is about... damnt!”
But some were on its side. Among them was @bantikile, who said: “@ANCJHB don’t feel ashamed, that is African beauty. It’s a pity we are in election mode and things get politicized.”
A few hours later, the ANC added: “Comrades, we apologise to all the women and all comrades for the tweet earlier. Such will not happen again... “
The ANC spokesman in Joburg, Jolidee Matongo, told a local radio station:”I received the picture in another account of the ANC, which is a WhatsApp page, and I immediately said to the guys that we can’t be associated with such.
“If somebody went ahead and put it there, then it’s very unfortunate and they will have to face the music.”
He added that the party would launch an investigation into who had posted the photograph.
The Star