Unathi Nkayi. (File photo by Gallo Images/Sowetan/Elvis Ntombela)
The conversation, which started on Msengana’s radio show on Metro FM, was sparked by Luister, a documentary on the continuing racism that black students experience at the university.
A large part of the documentary also deals with the fact that while the university is meant to be multilingual, Afrikaans is still the predominant language in lectures, putting those who do not speak the language at a disadvantage.
Msengana apparently said black students in Stellenbosch who cannot speak Afrikaans must have known that language would be an issue before they applied to study there.
“You cannot say that they said Afrikaans wouldn’t [be an issue]. How do we fight for you. That’s my point. Be fair guys. I know it hurts,” She wrote to a twitter user under the handle @ThisIsPalo.
It wasn’t long before the Idols SA judge trended on the social network, with many users slamming her views.
“Unathi is trying to belittle the struggles of the students at Stellies,” wrote Attie Matyalana. “Unathi I pray your kids will grow up to be smarter than you. Heck I hope they manage to get into Stellies,” another user wrote.
Msengana couldn’t comment at the time. She said “my flight is about to leave, can we please talk tomorrow [Tuesday]”.
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This is what people said on Twitter: