'GBV is not a punchline': Kwankwa apologises to Faku over AI image depicting him with whip

Kwankwa, the deputy president of the UDM, has issued a public apology to Princess Faku, the Buffalo City mayor, for an AI-generated image that depicted him chasing her with a whip. The fabricated image had been circulating after another image depicting someone chasing Kwankwa was shared. Kwankwa emphasized that he had no involvement in creating or authorizing the image and that he firmly rejected it.

He expressed his unequivocal stance that such imagery depicting violence against women is completely unacceptable, regardless of whether it is real, staged, or generated using artificial intelligence. Kwankwa warned against using political disagreements as justification for violent imagery and stressed that excusing such imagery as retaliation or a joke based on who initiated the conflict trivializes the issue of gender-based violence.

He made a direct apology to Faku for any distress caused by the image and urged everyone who had shared it to take it down. Kwankwa called on UDM supporters and social media administrators to engage respectfully, verify content before sharing, and to protect the dignity of all women involved in the political campaign. He reiterated that GBV is not a punchline and that it remains a serious concern for many women in South Africa.