South African internet race-row models make up

Two models in a race storm that has exposed the thin veneer of social harmony in South Africa 18 years after the end of apartheid shook hands yesterday and vowed to work towards Nelson Mandela’s vision of a non-racial “Rainbow Nation”.

Last week, 20-year-old Jessica Leandra dos Santos tweeted about an “arrogant and disrespectful kaffir” she had encountered at a supermarket.

The apartheid-era slang for black person is considered extremely offensive in South Africa, where media refer to it only as the “K-word”.

A few days later, black model Tshidi Thamana, 20, responded with a Twitter post saying that if “all white people were killed”, blacks wouldn’t have to put up with racial abuse from the likes of Ms dos Santos.

Both comments sparked outrage on the internet, in newspapers and on radio talk shows, while sponsors quickly ditched Ms dos Santos.

The opposition Democratic Alliance, perceived as the party of white privilege, jumped at the chance to burnish its multi-racial credentials by having its black spokesman, Mmusi Maimane, host a reconciliation breakfast between the pair.

“We know what we did was wrong,” Ms Thamana told reporters at Mr Maimane’s home.

Ms dos Santos offered her “sincere apologies”.