The South African entertainment landscape is completely reeling this week, and once again, the internet’s favourite problematic duo is right at the center of the storm. Black Twitter is absolutely ablaze with fury after the latest episode of Podcast and Chill crossed a major line, sparking massive public outrage and putting the biggest podcast network on the continent firmly under fire.
It all started during what was supposed to be a regular, high-energy episode featuring guest co-host Yanda Woods. In true Chillers fashion, the conversation veered into trending current events, specifically the heartbreaking disappearance of Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, a 38-year-old mother and passionate runner from Kempton Park.
Instead of treating the sensitive situation with care, things took a devastatingly tone-deaf turn into what the hosts later classified as mere banter. MacG started the inappropriate riffing by insensitively joking that a long-distance runner should have just kept on running to escape. Sol Phenduka then took the cringe-worthy moment a step further, cracking a highly distasteful pun about her race numbers being pinned to her chest and suggesting someone in the woods saw the numbers and decided to snatch her.
The major problem is that by the time the pre-recorded episode actually dropped for public viewing, the devastating news broke that Tsontso had been found brutally murdered, a victim of the country’s horrific ongoing crisis with Gender-Based Violence and femicide. The timing could not have been worse, and the internet instantly exploded with rightful disgust.
Celebrities and social media heavyweights quickly entered the chat to drag the platform for making light of missing and murdered women. Rapper Cassper Nyovest led the charge of public condemnation, while outspoken media figures like Ntsiki Mazwai and Tebogo Thobejane didn’t hold back in slamming the hosts for trivializing GBV for cheap laughs.
With corporate sponsors watching and the internet demanding blood, Sol Phenduka scrambled into immediate damage control mode. He dropped a somber video apology directly addressing the nation, the Chillers fanbase, and Tsontso’s grieving family. Looking visibly stressed, Sol explained that the segment was taped on a Sunday before the tragic reality of her death was known. He admitted the joke was highly distasteful, traumatic, and deeply inappropriate.
Meanwhile, the silence from the main man himself is absolutely deafening. MacG has gone completely ghost, refusing to issue a single public statement or apology. This silent treatment is only fueling the fire, with angry critics demanding that he take accountability instead of hiding behind his co-host. Whether the Chillers network can bounce back from this massive public relations nightmare remains to be seen, but the streets are definitely not forgiving them anytime soon.