South African economist resigns after controversial tweet

JOHANNESBURG – Standard Bank South Africa says an economist who was suspended for a controversial tweet which prompted mostly black youths to march to the lender’s offices in central Johannesburg, has resigned.

Chris Hart, a white person, suggested on Twitter in January that more than two decades of black majority rule had perpetuated poverty and entrenched a tendency to blame whites for all the country’s ills.

He apologised for his tweet at the time, and suggested it had been misunderstood when taken out of the context of other tweets.

He was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Hart was suspended by Standard Bank after his comments caused outrage on Twitter, and its CEO Sim Tshabalala flagged racism as a drag on the economy.

“Chris Hart, an investment strategist at Standard BankWealth and Investment, has resigned and has left the employ of the bank,” the bank said in a statement issued late on Monday.

The episode highlighted how racial tensions simmer in Africa’s most industrialised economy more than two decades after the end of white minority rule under apartheid when Nelson Mandela became its first black president.

Wealth and income gaps are, however, still clearly visible along race lines, fuelling perceptions of white privilege.

– Nampa-Reuters