One of Nelson Mandela’s grandsons reprimanded Meghan Markle for comparing her royal wedding to his grandfather being released from prison.
“Madiba’s celebration was based on overcoming 350 years of colonialism with 60 years of brutal apartheid regime in South Africa,” Zwelivelile “Mandla” Mandela told the Daily Mail on Tuesday, using a nickname to refer to the late activist.
Zwelivelile, a MP and head of Nelson’s Mvezo tribe, added: “It cannot be equated as the same.”
Zwelivelile, 48, said he was surprised by Markle’s recent comments, who said South Africans dancing in the streets before his grandfather’s release in 1990, after 27 years in prison, was more important and serious than her marriage’ with a white prince.
“We still carry scars from the past. But [Nelson Mandela’s celebrations were] a product of the majority of our people being taken to the streets to exercise the right to vote for the first time,” he said.
Zwelivelile’s criticism of the Duchess of Sussex, 41, comes after she told The Cut in a recent interview that someone once told her that public reactions to her marriage to Prince Harry and the freedom of Nelson Mandela were similar.
Markle said she attended the 2019 premiere of the live-action version of “The Lion King” in London when a South African cast member from the film took her aside.
“He looked at me and he’s just light. He said, ‘I want you to know, when you got married into this family, we were just as happy on the street as when Mandela was released from prison,’ she recalls.
Nelson’s relative isn’t alone in expressing his horror at Markle’s anecdote. Several South Africans took to Twitter to toast the “Princess of Montecito” over her tone-deaf words.
The hashtag “#VoetsekMeghan even started trending on Twitter in South Africa. “Voetsek” is an African word meaning “to go away” or “to get lost”.
“No one rejoiced in the streets of South Africa when she got married. That she’s suggesting it was the same as when President Mandela was released is the greatest disrespect,” one person said. tweeted.
“Meghan, you can fool Americans, ‘friends’ of celebrities, social media minions, but you cannot fool Africans. You showed us who you are. When you try to tear the royal family apart, forget who insults you along the way. Your right is violated n we see through you,” another added.
“I can’t believe that race bosses had the guts, the fucking freedom and the absolute audacity to equate her pathetic over privilege[d] live to the suffering and liberation of Nelson Mandela”, a third agreed.
Markle and Harry, 37, recently honored the icon with a performance at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City to celebrate Nelson Mandela Day.
The anti-apartheid activist was South Africa’s first president and served from 1994 to 1999 after being released from prison in 1990. He died on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95.