Several South Africans also roast the Duchess of Sussex over her tone-deaf remarks in which she compares her royal wedding to Prince Harry to the late activist being freed from prison.
- Aug 31, 2022
AceShowbiz - Meghan Markle faced backlash following her interview with The Cut, in which she compared her royal wedding to Prince Harry back in 2018 to Nelson Mandela being freed from prison. One of the grandsons of the late activist didn't hesitate to call out the Duchess of Sussex for the anecdote.
"Madiba's celebration was based on overcoming 350 years of colonialism with 60 years of a brutal apartheid regime in South Africa," Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela told the Daily Mail on Tuesday, August 30. A member of Parliament and chief of Nelson's Mvezo tribe, Zwelivelile added, "It cannot be equated to as the same."
In the interview, the 48-year-old admitted that he was shocked by Meghan saying that South African people celebrated her marriage to a white prince just like how they danced in the streets for Nelson's release in 1990 after 27 years in prison. "We are still bearing scars of the past. But [Nelson Mandela's celebrations were] a product of the majority of our people being brought out onto the streets to exercise the right of voting for the first time," he said.
Meghan came under fire after she shared the public reactions to her marriage to Prince Harry in her recent sit-down with The Cut. The mom of two revealed that when she was attending the 2019 premiere of the live-action version of "The Lion King" in London, a South African cast member from the film pulled her aside.
Recalling the moment, the former "Suits" actress said, "He looked at me, and he's just like light. He said, 'I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.' "
Also criticizing Meghan for the anecdote were several South Africans. They took to Twitter to roast Meghan over her tone-deaf remarks by trending hashtag "#VoetsekMeghan on Twitter in South Africa. In Afrikaans, Voetsek means "go away" or "get lost."
"No one was rejoicing in the streets of South Africa when she got married. For her to imply that it was the same as when President Mandela was released is the utmost disrespect," one person wrote. Another critic added, "Meghan you may fool Americans, celeb 'friends', social media minions but you can't fool Africans. You've shown us who u are. When you try to rip the Royal Family you forget about who you offend on the way. Your entitlement wreaks n we see through you."
Meghan has yet to comment on the backlash.
