African Transformation Movement’s (ATM) head of policy Mzwanele Manyi has said he looks “ridiculously colonised” in a suit and tie and will soon start wearing “African attire.”
Manyi posted a photo of himself on Twitter on Tuesday dressed in a dark blue suit, pink shirt and red tie.
He accompanied it with the caption, “Look at me. I look ridiculously colonised, in that suit and tie. From now on whilst waiting for my African attire, the tie is off. #Decolonisation.”
‘Slave name’ Jimmy
This is the latest in Manyi’s attempts at “decolonising” himself in keeping with ATM’s policy positions.
In mid-October, he announced that he had formally applied at Home Affairs to drop his forename Jimmy, which he labelled a “slave name.”
He posted a picture of the application forms along with the caption, “The process to remove the slave name, Jimmy, is officially ON course from today, 16 October 2019. #MzwaneleMustRise.”
He is known for being sensitive to being called “Jimmy” and often blocks followers on Twitter who call him the name.
Manyi left the African National Congress (ANC) early last year and briefly associated himself with the All African Decolonisation Congress before joining ATM.
He made headlines in 2017 after buying TV news channel ANN7 and newspaper The New Age from the controversial Gupta family.
Followers react
Some of Manyi’s followers agreed with his decision. @nqobzitha_makh replied, “We must change the things that we can change to free our mind from colonial slavery.
“We cannot change everything, as some of the things are part of development and modernisation. It’s not to say western attire is bad, but just also to show love for our own.”
However, others like @funifreshh disagreed, “Only the elite will mislead you into thinking that putting [on] a tie and a suit is a form of colonisation, while they send their kids to the best schools in the world and they also wear expensive attires from colonisers. Be careful of populist statements family.”
@mberembere added, “While using the language of the colonisers and the technology they invented to tweet this.”