Ntshavheni Explains Controversial ‘Smoke Them Out’ Remark After Backlash, SA Muses: “Damage Control”

• Khumbudzo Ntshavheni further responded to backlash after making controversial remarks against illegal miners
• The Presidency Minister came under fire from the public after alluding to smoking out illegal miners trapped at Stilfontein
• After again attempting to set the record straight on the issue, critical locals online had polarising reactions to her latest post

JOHANNESBURG — It is probably safe to assume that Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has had her fill of criticism.

Barely two days after the politician posted a viral clip of heavily armed men having a good time underground, she furthered her stance on the matter of illegal miners expressed on Wednesday, 13 November 2024.

Ntshavheni explains controversial remark

Her highly scrutinised remarks at a media conference in Cape Town to discuss the outcomes of a cabinet meeting a week earlier drew sharp criticism.

Then, she stressed that the government would not help criminals as about 4,000 zama zamas reportedly starve underground at the disused Stilfontein mine in Klerksdorp, North-West.

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A crackdown on illicit mining has seen the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) blocking routes to deliver food and water to the illegal miners underground.

In her latest post, Ntshavheni shared a captionless screenshot of a dictionary definition of the phrase "smoke them out".

It read:

Vocal online community split

When publishing this story, her divisive post had attracted 4700 likes, 1300 replies, and 1,000 comments. The reactions alternated between supportive and bashful as locals expressed strong views.

Briefly News looks at a few responses.

@ProfJNMoyo wrote:

"So, the public has smoked you out!"

@destinyzee said:

"Why do you have to explain, minister? Vele, they must be smoked out."

@dudu_sokhela added:

"Why find it necessary to explain after five days of damage? Never utter words you have no understanding of again in the future because you hear someone uttering them in corridors of [the] Union Buildings. Ask them first what they mean or check Dr Goggle first. Too late [to do] 'damage control'."

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Source: Briefly News