South African minister slammed for “might get lucky” tweet at slutwalk

Summary of story from iol news, Aug 22, 2011

South African Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba tweeted that he “might get lucky” during the Slutwalk march through Capetown on Saturday.

Around 2000 women and men demonstrated against the victim-blaming culture that labels women by their clothing then uses the way they dress as an excuse for rape.

The African National Congress’s minister provided a timely reminder of why the march was necessary.

Gigaba was responding to a tweet from Deputy Minister Derek Hanekom, who suggested they discuss “rugby, bells and slutwalks”.

Gigaba wrote in reply: “@Derek_Hanekom No, let’s talk about the slut walk. Now, I wanna attend as an observer. Might get lucky”

Mr Gigaba apologised two hours later, after he apparently “found out” what the march was about. The following day his spokesman said the comment was “as a result of a misunderstanding” and “in jest”.

WVoN comment: In a country where rape is endemic, with reports showing that one in four South African men admits to rape, this kind of comment is not remotely funny.

The worldwide ‘Slutwalk’ phenomenon has been widely reported and discussed at WVoN: see here, here or here, for example.