ANC veteran Archbishop Desmond Tutu passed away at 90 yesterday after a long and hard battle with prostate cancer. Although the passing of the Bishop is a terrible ordeal, Twitter users decided to troll Natasha Thahane, his granddaughter, telling her to pay back the money she used for her scholarship when her late grandfather’s life and funeral policies have been paid up.
Natasha Thahane was interviewed on the famous Podcast and Chill with MacG on Episode 306. During the interview, she shared a story on how she received an R1 000 000 scholarship to study overseas after appealing to Baleka Mbete, a former deputy president of South Africa and a former speaker at the National Assembly. Natasha said she humbly asked Mbethe for help, the ANC politician made a few calls and the Department of Arts and Culture gave her a scholarship worth one million Rands.
Public outrage
South Africa has always struggled with providing tertiary education fees for deserving students. South African students struggle to get funding for University between January and February. Most people felt it wasn’t fair for Natasha to instantly receive such an expensive scholarship related to Tutu. The ruling party leaders have been notoriously known for being corrupt ever since 1994.
Natasha’s revelations led to a public outcry as people believed she was undeservedly awarded a scholarship. She tried to put out the fire by denying Mbete facilitated the scholarship, but South Africans had none of it. Arts Minister Nathi Mthethwa claims Natasha applied for the scholarship through him, but his statement was taken as an effort to cover up corruption in the ANC government.
Tweeps called her out for this and the celebrity news commentator Slik Talk gave Natasha Thahane the title of ”A government sugar baby.’
Tweeps after Archbishop Tutu’s passing.
A Twitter user with the name Aphelele Jody tweeted, “Natasha Thahane must pay back the money when policies have been paid out.” A lot of tweeps initially laughed at this but later agreed and tagged the Blood and Water actress, agreeing with Appellee.
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