uMngeni Mayor Chris Pappas Causes Uproar After He Speaks isiZulu and Eats Corn in Viral Video

• uMngeni Mayor Chris Pappas trended once more after a video of him went viral on X, formerly Twitter
• Pappas was shown eating corn and speaking in fluent isiZulu, encouraging people to eat corn
• South Africans formed two camps: those who support him and those who find his video offensive

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered policy changes and elections at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over three years.

Chris Pappas, the Mayor of uMngeni and the Democratic Alliance's candidate for premier in Kwa-Zulu, may have become less popular after a video of him speaking isiZulu went viral. Pappas not only talked in isiZulu in the video but also ate a mielie, encouraging people not to forget to eat it while in the province. South Africans argued over his video: some trashed him in the comments and expressed how they felt belittled by Pappas.

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Chris Pappas eats corn, speaks isiZulu

@BongaOfficial posted the video on his X account. In the clip, Pappas, no stranger to going viral, stands in front of a picturesque view in Kwa-Zulu Natal. He begins speaking fluently in IsiZulu and introduces himself as the province's premier candidate for the Democratic Alliance.

He then adds that he is in Msinga, a place he praises as a beautiful area. He closes his short video by reminding people that when they are in the rural areas, it is essential not to forget to eat their corn ears. Having said this, he takes a comical bite out of the mielie. Watch the video here.

South Africans hate the video

South Africans were deeply disturbed by the video and voiced their disapproval.

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uSandz asked:

“So someone was celebrating that he just took a bite out of a maize?”

Nkwe Mashamaite was unimpressed.

“This boy thinks speaking an African language fluently will charm African people and make more black people believe more in his leadership.”

Andy Bapela pointed out:

“Gimmicks no longer move me. Let him get to the core of real economic empowerment and equality versus DA policies. He’ll choose DA policies any day.”

Kgabo remarked:

“So someone out there is going to vote for this guy because he can speak Zulu and eat maize.”

Residents defended him

Others, though, came to his defence.

“People love him because he delivers, not because of his race and language. If the ANC could deliver like him, there wouldn’t be such jealousy around him from ANC people.”

Mhlengi Mpungose added:

“At least he’s got a very good track record of service delivery in Umngeni.”

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Chris Pappas slammed for saying racism is distracting

In a related story, Briefly News reported that Chris Pappas was slammed after he called the Free State racism incident a distraction.

Pappas spoke after a man assaulted two black teenagers for swimming in a pool he said was reserved for white people only. Pappas added that South Africans get distracted by race debates, and his statements did not bode well with the country. One of his most prominent critics was former DA president Mmusi Maimane, who believed that Pappas should have condemned the incident.

Source: Briefly News