Zwai Bala was never ready for the wrath of Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
Just like many other South Africans, the musician has an opinion on politics and he took to the social network to share his views.
One thing that didn't sit well with the TKZee band member was the fact that during Tuesday's debate on a motion to remove President Jacob Zuma, EFF leader Julius Malema addressed Baleka Mbethe by her first name.
Zwai was like:
And he made it clear that this was disrespectful and irresponsible.
And for Julius to disrespectfully call Ms Mbete by her first name can never be correct by African standards. Irresponsible of a leader.— Zwai Bala (@ZwaiBala) April 5, 2016
As expected, Julius was not about to let this one slide. He gave Zwai a piece of his mind.
@ZwaiBala you must never impose your African standards on me— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) April 5, 2016
Anyway, that's not all. EFF spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, also went in on Zwai - using numbered tweets.
Let's deal with Zwai & his baseless claims, essentialising African culture Eg. Parly rules were written by Europeans https://t.co/KkdpqSgtiO— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 6, 2016
1. Most, if not all, cultures seek to accord 'respect' by prefacing your name, thus it's not essential to "Africa" https://t.co/KkdpqSgtiO— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 6, 2016
2. So it has to do with being respectful, rather than being "African".Now question is;why should Mbete be respected? https://t.co/KkdpqSgtiO— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 6, 2016
3. In your myopic logic you suggests that a person deserves respect because they are old. Not mature, but old! https://t.co/KkdpqSgtiO— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 6, 2016
4. Mbete violated the constitution & refuses to comply with the requirements. She does not deserve respect! https://t.co/KkdpqSgtiO— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 6, 2016
5. What is irresponsible is affording respect to a speaker who shows no respect to the supreme law of the country https://t.co/KkdpqSgtiO— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 6, 2016
6. The standard for judging Mbete is the constitution, not some ageist idea masquerading as African Culture! https://t.co/KkdpqSgtiO— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 6, 2016
Oh, and he was dragged...
Maybe Zwai wanted to be relevant again (was he eva thou)...Kodwa asikho lapho— Mpumilicious (@dacrazywife) April 6, 2016
Where were African standards when Zwai and his group were singing "shake isbunu sakho" in that fiasco song— Smallanyana Skeleton (@Buzwebakhe) April 6, 2016
Zwai must tell us when he look at the mirror what does he see , a singer or a kgokgo 😂😂😂— Skattie sa EFF (@Mmalenyalo_) April 6, 2016
Sit down Zwai Bala, your relevance ended in the late 90's. https://t.co/RgAolmGjsK— Molobedu (@phetoleLEBEA) April 6, 2016
__ Zwai Bala should stick to his inexistent Music Career .— __ thabang (@_TeeBang) April 6, 2016
Zwai explained his infamous tweet.
Maybe it's just my upbringing where anyone who could be as old as your mother you can't call by (first) name #thatisall #strusbob #NoTenders— Zwai Bala (@ZwaiBala) April 5, 2016
Okay, noted.