Johannesburg - Author and environmental activist Nicole Barlow is sliding on a sharp razor as the SACP has condemned and threatened to lay criminal charges against her for her chilling death wish tweet against Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe.
In a now deleted tweet, Barlow asserted that: “We missed an opportunity to Chris Hani him” – referring to Mantashe in response to a Sunday Times article which had suggested that Mantashe chose to attend a Cosatu Boksburg event instead of joining President Cyril Ramaphosa in an event where he was due to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Danish and Dutch prime ministers.
Barlow, who appeared to suggest Mantashe should be killed, has since apologised for the tweet.
Hani, the late SACP general secretary, was assassinated by a Polish immigrant, Janusz Waluś, on April 10, 1993 at his home in Dawn Park, Boksburg.
The SACP said it had resolved and was in the process to lay criminal charges against Barlow.
Following the party secretariat meeting on Monday which discussed the matter, the general secretary, Solly Mapaila, said they cannot take the utterances lightly, given what happened to Hani.
Mapaila said Barlow has implicated herself in what happened to Hani. This also suggests they, the “We…” in her tweet "missed an opportunity to do” the same on Mantashe.
“In missing the ‘opportunity’, who else were they aiming at, besides Mantashe? Who else did they miss? Who else did they not miss previously? Mapaila asked.
“These are some of the questions that must be asked about the self-implicating utterances by Nicole Barlow,” he said.
The SACP called on law enforcement authorities to not leave the threat on Mantashe, and possibly others, unattended.
Meanwhile, the party said it was driving its campaign to secure a full inquest into the assassination of Hani to unearth the whole truth and all the surrounding circumstances.
Meanwhile, other twitter users were not impressed by her comments and others called for Amazon to remove her book.
Other comments were not included for being too sensitive
“Nicole Barlow is calling for a gruesome assassination of minister Gwede Mantashe in a similar fashion as Chris Hani. It doesn’t get any treasonier than that. Send her to a Zimbabwe Prison,” @Noxza_dube said.
Nicole Barlow is calling for a gruesome assassination of minister Gwede Mantashe in a similar fashion as Chris Hani. It doesn’t get any treasonier than that. Send her to a Zimbabwe Prison. pic.twitter.com/Gv7w4ztlMo
— Mr Handsome_ZA (@Noxza_dube) June 27, 2023
“Dear @amazon an author on your site is promoting violence in South Africa.
“Google Chris Hani murder - how it nearly brought us to a civil war.
“Nicole wished a similar death on a black South African minister who attended a worker’s rally and not an engagement of her preference,“ @Cmfundisi said.
Dear @amazon an author on your site is promoting violence in South Africa.
— Coceka Mfundisi (@Cmfundisi) June 25, 2023
Google Chris Hani murder-how it nearly brought us to a civil war.
Nicole wished a similar death on a black South African minister who attended a worker’s rally and not an engagement of her preference. pic.twitter.com/8Lg3l1iy7s
“Nicole Barlow has deeply implicated herself in murder and assassination of Chris Hani and graving for the assassination of sitting Minister Gwede Mantashe,“ @ThabzAfrika said.
Nicole Barlow has deeply implicated herself in murder and assassination of Chris Hani and graving for the assassination of sitting Minister @GwedeMantashe1
— ThabzAfrika🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦![CDATA[]]>🇱![CDATA[]]>🇸![CDATA[]]>🇷![CDATA[]]>🇺 (@ThabzAfrika) June 27, 2023
Meanwhile we are waiting for @SAPoliceService swift response. Black lives are cheap in this country#2024isOur1994 pic.twitter.com/TMqvpmDoZt
IOL