A day that was supposed to be entertaining and memorable turned into a horrific experience for Njabulo Madlanga, 21, and her siblings, who reportedly experienced racial aggression at Gold Reef City Theme Park in Johannesburg.
Madlanga details how they had gone to celebrate her sibling's birthday when three white patrons allegedly directed monkey sounds at them.
She claims they were waiting to board a fun ride when a verbal altercation erupted, caused by comments related to make-up, which she was wearing on the day of the incident.
As they were trading jabs with each other, she says, monkey sounds were made, which led her to share the experience on TikTok, where the post garnered thousands of reactions.
“I can’t remember what specific ride it was, but we were in line for that ride, and the three people behind us were so close that we could hear each other’s conversations.
“So we were standing in line, minding our own business, and one of them started speaking about make-up in general.
“On that day, I happened to be wearing make-up. And he is standing in such a way that he clearly wants me to hear what he is saying. And he was trying to shame me for wearing make-up.
“He would say things like he does not understand why people wear make-up and it looks cakey on them. And they would laugh about it. They made monkey sounds. It was very sudden and shocking. It took a minute to be like,’ Really, is this happening to us’?”
Asked if they were looking at them while making the sounds, she said they made the sounds in a way that could be heard as they were next to them.
“It was so humiliating for something like this to happen,” said Madlanga.
“So, let me tell you something: we in this line, yeah, in this place, Gold Reef City, people will make sound effects here if you are black. I’m just saying, monkey sound effects, so just know that,” she said on TikTok.
She claimed that after the post blew up on social media, one of the three male patrons reached out to her, requesting that she take the post down and denying the allegations.
She shared the screenshot with “The Star”, which read: “It has come to my attention, Nj, that you've posted a video on TikTok involving myself and two of my friends, claiming that we were allegedly making animal noises directed towards you and your siblings as a result of your race.
“Not only is the entire situation completely fabricated, but my friends and I are now receiving intimidating messages, being labelled as racists, and being attacked. Either you take down the videos, or I will be pressing charges for harassment and defamation of my character, as well as my friends.”
She then responded and said: “My siblings and I heard what you and your friend, specifically Reece, did.
“Monkey sound effects were made. You cannot intimidate me; we know what we heard. Why were those noises made?”
He further asked if Madlanga had evidence of the claims lodged against him.
AfriForum, which is representing three youngsters identified as Reece Lopes (20), Milan Kruijer (20), and Jude Fraser-Grant (21), revealed that Madlanga is being investigated on charges of crime injuria and criminal defamation.
The unit further revealed that on Monday, the Booysens Magistrate’s Court granted an interim protection order against Madlanga, “prohibiting her from further harassing or enlisting the help of others to harass the complainants”.
Wico Swanepoel, attorney at the Private Prosecution Unit, said the unit was established to ensure there is equality before the law and that justice is upheld in all cases.
“False allegations of racism should be treated as seriously as true allegations of racism. False allegations also have serious implications in the public domain for these victims, and that is why we will ensure that justice prevails in this matter,” he said.
While the subject continues on social media, Madlanga shared more details on how she has received social media attacks, with others continuing with the racial slurs.
She has since received support from Tumi Sole, an experienced legal adviser on X, who recently shared their meeting in a bid to fight the alleged racist claims.
“Dumelang
Met with Njabulo and she’s ok.
She sends her regards and appreciates the support.
Let the games begin!
#JusticeForNjabulo
#JusticeForNj
#RacismMustFall
#CountryDuty.” said Tumi
This is a developing story.
The Star