Cape Town - A Kleinmond firefighter has been dismissed from work over an insensitive Facebook post during the time when thousands of South Africans were calling for justice after a woman was murdered in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.
Namhla Mtwa, an OR Tambo employee, was gunned down in her driveway in Mthatha in April as she arrived home from work. Her sister, Sanga Nozintathu Mtwa, appealed on social media for justice for Namhla as no arrest had been made yet.
The #JusticeForNamhla hashtag started trending and a march attended by close to 20 000 people was organised in Mthatha
It was during this time when firefighter Mandilakhe Kweta decided to post “I wonder xa nisithi stop killing woman nithi makubulawe bani?” which translates to “I wonder when you say stop killing women who should be killed?”
The post drew criticism with many calling for Kweta to delete it but he did not. He landed in hot water when he was reported to authorities at Overstrand Municipality and a disciplinary hearing was initiated.
Kweta posted an apology saying the post was misinterpreted and offended many. “I was not standing in solidarity with murders or abuses (and) I was not directing my post to women but it was a question I was asking,” reads the apology.
It further reads, “Should it be kids? Should it be men? Should it be animals? I believe no one deserves such brutal actions taken against them.”
In the same apology he said he had time to reflect and apologised for the posting even saying he has a special connection with women as his birthday is on August 9, the same day when the country celebrates Women’s Day.
Despite his public apology, documents seen by the Weekend Argus show that he was found guilty of bringing the municipality into disrepute.
Speaking to the paper, Kweta confirmed that he was fired over his Facebook post and said he would appeal against the outcome of the disciplinary hearing.
“I regret posting it,” he said. “I publicly apologised and received positive feedback. People understood what I was posting.”
A process was followed and we await the outcome, thereafter a statement will come from the municipality.
Overstrand Municipality officials confirmed that a disciplinary hearing was initiated and said the municipality will issue a statement in due course.
Chulumanco Nkasela is one of the people who reported Kweta to the municipality. Nkasela said they were pleased with the outcome.
“There are so many ways that people incite GBV-F on social media and nothing is ever done, and when instances of GBV-F happen we act surprised.
“More than anything, there should be provisions in law that deal with people who incite GBV-F, in the same way that there is for people who incite violence.”
Nkasela said authorities have to take the necessary preventative strides against GBV-F, and realise that after all the personal is political.
“Femme bodies have been sexually harassed and or assaulted, and killed in state buildings and we then can't ignore signs when they are there.
“We have a burden to root out GBV-F and the like, because perpetrators of GBV-F are people and they live among us. They must be excluded and called out at every turn.”