“We Were Wild Animals”: Mzansi Reacts as Resurfaced 1990 Apartheid Video Sparks Outrage
- 60 Minutes Australia shared rare 1990 footage on TikTok showing white South Africans calling for Black people to be locked off streets at night
- The clip, filmed in Welkom, captured street interviews where residents openly supported curfews that treated Black people like animals
- The resurfaced footage left many South Africans furious, noting that some of those interviewed could still be alive today
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Source: TikTok
A 36-year-old video has stopped South Africans in their tracks. Australian news channel 60 Minutes Australia posted rare footage on TikTok on 11 August 2026 showing white South Africans in 1990 openly demanding that Black people be removed from the streets by 9 pm and only allowed out in the morning for work.
The clip, originally filmed in Welkom during the final years of apartheid, featured a journalist conducting street interviews. The responses were startling in their casual delivery. One person pointed to Cape Town as a model, describing how there were “no blacks on the streets” after 9 or 10 at night.
Another agreed that Black people should be “put away” by 9 pm. When the journalist asked what time they should be allowed out, one respondent said it depended on when they were needed for work.
60 Minutes Australia captioned the video: “In this rare footage from 1990, white South Africans demand that Black people be locked off the streets at night and only let out in the morning to do their work. Hearing these words spoken so freely is a harsh reminder of just how much the times and racist language have changed since the end of apartheid.”
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Apartheid era footage hits a raw nerve
More than three decades after apartheid ended, the video landed hard. For many viewers, the language used, framing Black people as creatures to be contained and released, was viscerally painful to hear spoken so matter-of-factly.
The footage drew thousands of comments from South Africans processing what they were watching.
Watch the 1990 footage that sparked the debate here.
Mzansi reacts to the resurfaced clip
South Africans flooded the comments section with their feelings:
@luxsjurious wrote:
“To think that they found us here. 😂”
@naledi_bbby said:
“Mind you, a lot of these people are still alive. 😒”
@Vuyo pointed out:
“‘Put away at 9 at night’, ‘let out in the morning’ like we were wild animals.”
@AC😎 responded:
“No wonder we stay out now till the next day.”
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Source: Briefly News
