"She Had To Know": SA Woman Buys Horse Meat Thinking It Was Beef, Her TikTok Shocks Mzansi

• A South African TikToker named Thando bought meat from a street vendor, believing it was beef
• She only realised after the fact that she had bought and cooked horse meat instead
• Her video left Mzansi in stitches, with many viewers saying they suspected the same about vendors in their areas

A South African woman got more than she bargained for at a street meat stall. Thando, who goes by @thando_leeanne on TikTok, shared a video on 14 August 2026 showing raw meat being processed at what looked like an outdoor butchery, followed by the same meat seasoned and placed in an air fryer at home.

The text, written in Zulu, read:

"Ngayithenga inyama yehashi ngithi eyenkomo, I bought horse meat thinking it was beef."

In the comments, Thando explained exactly how it went down. She said the vendor was not openly selling the meat, but she approached and asked for some. The seller told her she could get a portion for R20. She jumped at the deal, only to later discover it was not beef at all.

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The clip by @thando_leeanne quickly gained traction, with viewers both amused and unsettled by the accidental purchase. Watch the video that started it all:

Mzansi discusses alleged horse meat

The comments section filled up fast, with many people unable to hold back their laughter or concern:

@2LAANIE said: "For sure it died on its own."

@MaKhomo.♡ wrote:

"You wouldn't have eaten it, but now you've seasoned it up like this."

@Jaresh012 shared:

"That time my uncle lost his sick horse, we have been looking for it for 2 days."

@𝓪𝓶𝓪𝓱𝓵𝓮𝓶 asked:

"You'll poison someone one day. Is it nice?"

@Denzo Warmbad warned:

"People just eat things without knowing how they died."

@Mama Oarabile❤️ commented:

"How did you not know? I thought everyone from the hood knows that leyo nyama eyehashi [that meat is horse]. My dad used to make biltong with it."

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@sibusisom.10 joked:

"Thando, do you not know what a cow looks like?"

Other Briefly News stories about food

• A Ghanaian visitor captivated South Africans with her food experiences shared on TikTok, trying local favourites like King Pie and Nando's.
• The recent incident at a Shoprite in Port Shepstone, where a loaf of chilli polony was shockingly priced at R851.84, left shoppers baffled.
• A South African woman took on a food challenge involving Zimbabwe's cultural delicacy, the stink bug, with her domestic worker Emma.

Source: Briefly News