A clip from the popular UK podcast, Shxts’n’Gigs, has been going viral after the two hosts, best friends James and Fuhad, discussed how South African Twitter interacts online.
During a segment of Best Tweets of The Week, the two began talking about a thread where people shared when they realised their supposed friends hated them.
They began by highlighting one response in particular, “When she moved in with my boyfriend.” They then noted how it was a SA thread where people would start by starting their tweets in English before ending in vernac.
“This was a South African thread innit? These man were spitting Swahili,” said Fuhad, before mumbling some gibberish.
“My favourite podcasters are complaining about South Africans starting off a tweet in English then finishing it off in gibberish 🤣🤣🤣🤣,” shared @madamzoe in the viral tweet of the interaction.
My favourite podcasters are complaining about South Africans starting off a tweet in English then finishing it off in gibberish 🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/GuiXXTepXG
— Zoe (@madamzoe) October 2, 2023
Fuhad added, “I couldn’t keep up with this thread bro. I could not keep up.” They later implored South African Twitter to stick to English.
“Make it universal, I wanna enjoy too. Half English, half mouth noises. South Africans we love you and we know you love us. But make it easier for us… help us and vice versa.”
The post had been shared thousands of times and viewed nearly 6 million times on the platform.
They added that half of the stuff on the thread was “gibberish” and they couldn’t translate it. “You know it’s juicy because they’re all kicking off (in the comments)”.
South African tweeps have since been responding to the viral clip:
“That’s a pity because re satlo tswela Pele,” tweeted @yourisbella, before making fun of the segment by doing exactly what they said they don’t like and adding some vernac. “Gare tlo utlwa ka bona.. ankere they always say bo “dey go no”.”
@titizma1 shared a similar response, “They’re not wrong though ave sithanda kucala ngaso singisi bese sicedela ngamalwimi ethu🤣”
That’s a pity because re satlo tswela Pele.. Gare tlo utlwa ka bona.. ankere they always say bo “dey go no”
— An Engineer Hun👩🏽🔧 (@YourIsBella) October 2, 2023
Some, like @wholesomendg, took offence to them referring to local languages as gibberish. “Maybe the target audience of the tweet is abantu who understand the language but you guys allow any type of disrespect from y’all faves…”
@beebayuu shared similar sentiments, “This kind of nonsense coming from people who would literally pop a vein if a white person just says “ni**a” is the very definition of hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness that makes diaspora blacks unfit for discussion about Africa.”
