#VoetsekMeghan ~The South African Trending Hashtag

South Africans voiced their outrage at TW insulting them, but then Twitter seemed to silence them

Over the past 48/72 hours, there was a new hashtag, trending #VoetsekMeghan and #VoetsekMeghanMarkle (I believe it began on 25 August 2022). I didn’t know what it meant, and like many I had to look it up. It’s a South African term used to tell someone to ‘go away’ as a means of rejection and to tell then that they are not wanted. What had transpired is that many South Africans (black and white) were offended by TW’s comments made during the Spotify podcast, and chose to voice their displeasure with #VoetsekMeghan. Instead of being called Archetypes, the podcast should be called ‘How to Alienate Countries and Irritate Human Beings’ because that’s what it seems to have done.

Many South Africans added comments, stating that she is not welcome in their country and that they support their country above all else. Some even admitted that they had been fans and supporters of hers, but no more, while some said they supported their country and criticised how she had insulted the country but still supported her work. Others have wondered what all the fuss is about because they couldn’t see what was offensive. Those with a modicum of decency in their bones won’t need to ask that question—it’s simply called manners. In TW’s case there is a distinct lack of them, for you do not as a guest of a country and a guest in a prestigious house call where you are staying ‘a housing unit’. It is insulting and rude, and if you didn’t know that, well, now you do!

Ultimately, South Africans have the right (whether they live there or have moved to other countries) to decide if they were offended by TW’s comments. This is very much like the British, who took exception to TW calling the nation racists and bullies. Perhaps now people can understand why there is huge backlash in the UK, because even if you weren’t interested in TW, you defend your nation when an outsider (and she is one and always will be) attacks your country.

South Africa joins the list of countries that TW has alienated through her dismissive and rude remarks, or behaviour (others being Australia, the UK, and Canada). Then, I was informed that Twitter seemed to have removed #VoetsekMeghan as a trending topic, even though it clearly appeared to be, and some tweets seem to have been deleted or disappeared.

Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the work of the Sussex PR here. TW is always banging on about people to use their voices—that is except when the voices criticise her or disagree with her. In a bid to ensure that the South African voices are not silenced, if that is what Twitter has tried to do, I have added screenshots of some of the tweets expressing their opinions and views on the TW offensive remarks.

TW may wish to control the narrative and to silence those who criticise her, but the South African people have a right to defend their country and and address any insults if they feel aggrieved. This is the same as the British who have a right to defend the Nation and the Monarchy (although it is debatable if the Monarchy is worth fighting for at present when they don’t bother to defend themselves or the Nation) when TW and Harry stage attacks against both the Nation and the Monarchy.

Obviously there are thousands of tweets, so I can only highlight a number of them but they should not be lost or drowned out because Twitter is trying to conceal them. The hashtag appeared to be trending in South Africa, Australia, Canada, the UK and the US across several topics including entertainment, and at least here they won’t get lost or forgotten (I will add them to this static page as and when I have time!).

The Sussex PR can’t claim it is racism when multitudes of black people are criticising TW—in fact the South Africans are calling TW a racist (for her dismissive, biased and prejudiced comments that came from her own mouth), so the only other option is to try and silence them. The British booed her when she was last seen in the UK, and I suspect that same scenario may well happen if she sets foot in South Africa judging from some of the comments.