WATCH | Here are some of the reckless, tone-deaf utterances politicians have served us

While Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi faces criticism for his “shower in hotel” comment as Joburg residents are dealing with a water crisis, we take you down memory lane to some of the most absurd tone-deaf statements politicians and government officials have dished out.

• On Wednesday, Lesufi got into a sticky situation and his communication team had to release a midnight statement to set the record straight. This followed his comments that he once had to go to a hotel to bathe when his household experienced water shortages.
• Just a few days ago, Gauteng health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko had some people fuming when she attempted to deny claims that provincial hospitals had an overcrowding crisis. Instead, she pushed back, saying some patients simply preferred to sleep on the floor. “Did you know that when you are sick, you want to [lie] down? [Especially] when you are pregnant and want to deliver and are in pain, [you] go down and sleep on the floor.”
• Mineral and petroleum resources minister Gwede Mantashe didn’t have a good public relations start to 2026 when he alleged that the youth were unemployed because they were lazy and did not submit CVs to search for employment. Mantashe spent the following days having to explain his remarks at almost every interview he did.
• DA Federal Council chairperson Hellen Zille needs a crown for some of the most bizarre and controversial comments. In 2017 she posted on X (then Twitter) that the legacy of colonialism was not only negative, citing an independent judiciary, transport infrastructure, and piped water as benefits. She later apologised for these comments after widespread outcry. Then in 2019 Zille faced a backlash for suggesting that “black privilege” involved looting and being re-elected. In 2012 she upset the people of the Eastern Cape when she labelled them as refugees for moving to the Western Cape for better education.
• Sports minister Gayton McKenzie brushed some people up the wrong way last year when a 10-year-old social media post resurfaced showing him using the ‘K-word’. He defended it claiming he is a “black-skinned coloured” and arguing that he was not being racist, but rather pointing out that coloureds and blacks are treated differently.
• Former DA MP Renaldo Gouws was suspended and later fired by the party after an old video resurfaced showing him using extremely racist, “execrable” language in a YouTube video.

• Former Limpopo health MEC Phophi Ramathuba raised eyebrows in 2022 when she was caught on video telling a Zimbabwean patient that illegal foreigners were “killing” SA’s health system.
• In 2024, ANC MP Sylvia Lucas faced severe criticism after stating that “load-shedding is not the end of the world” during a parliamentary debate. Lucas later apologised, saying she was referring to her own, limited use of an inverter.