Johannesburg - Taxis may be back on the roads in the Western Cape but many South Africans are still talking about the social media spat between actor, Siv Ngesi and Cape Town DJ Terence Williams.
Williams, who threatened Ngesi with legal action, claimed that Ngesi’s repost of his video led to him receiving death threats.
Williams has since apologised for upsetting many with his TikTok video, saying he was only joking about the minibus taxi strike.
The video received backlash after Ngesi re-shared it on his Instagram account, calling out Williams. In a now-viral video, Williams expressed joy about the “conveniences” of the violent taxi strike.
“Has anyone noticed how quiet the streets are lately? There hasn’t been a single drop of traffic for the past three days. Everyone’s got smiles on their faces, everyone’s driving and the roads are empty. The sun even came out. All the clouds went away. It’s been summer for the past three days and this is since the taxis have gone on strike, and they’ve decided they’re not going to be working and they (are) not on the roads. Yes, it is bad, where they are striking. They are burning things, but for the rest of us, it's been wonderful. We have got to figure out how we can keep the taxis on strike so they don’t have to come back onto the roads. They must stay on strike,” he said.
Not one to mince his words, Ngesi in turn hit back and said: “The scary thing is that what he’s saying, is what many privileged South Africans are saying. I’m living in town. Around the corner, people were being attacked, killed and having to walk home. It exposes the absolute disconnect this flippin country has,” he said.
The outspoken and popular media personality added that while he’s not calling Williams “evil”, as William claimed, he has exposed what many think.
“Unfortunately, he’s the face of it. I am not worried. Even if he had a case, I won’t delete shit. I will stand in front of the judge and take my time in court if I have to. Or in jail or pay the fine. Legally he has no case. I have done worse on social media that actually gives people the right to sue me but this is not one of them. F**k him. Things like this, Covid, lockdown, always exposes the injustices and privileges in our society in South Africa, especially in Cape Town. And for me that is part of the saddest parts of things like these,” Ngesi said.
Meanwhile, a Cape Town attorney said Williams would not have had a legal leg to stand on, even if he wanted to pursue the matter against Ngesi.
“I do not think so. Surely, if you decide that you are willing to take the risk of saying something controversial on social media you must foresee the possibility of it being re-posted and take that risk into the bargain. It may be worthwhile though to find out if it was simply re-posted without comment or whether the re-poster put a different spin on it.”
Later, Williams apologised, saying his video had been a joke.
“This was made as a joke before s**t hit the fan and people got hurt and stranded. I apologise for upsetting anyone, it wasn't my intent. This was posted before people were stranded and before things got violent, but I apologise for anyone I have upset.”
He has since removed the video from his own social media accounts.