MacG, Misogyny, and the Violence we’ve Normalised
- Campaign On Digital Ethics
- May 21
- 2 min read
By Kavisha Pillay
When MacGayver “MacG” Mukwevho used his podcast to lob misogynistic insults at Minnie Dlamini, it wasn’t just crude or off-colour, it was symptomatic of something far more entrenched. Something we have grown far too comfortable brushing off as “content”, “banter” or “just a joke”. But, behind the jokes is a digital culture where a woman's dignity is disposable, and online outrage is monetised.
This isn’t about one podcast and one episode. It’s about what this moment reveals, which is a broken online ecosystem where gendered abuse is algorithmically rewarded, where harmful narratives about women trend for days, and where perpetrators, especially if they are male, famous, and funny, rarely face consequence.
In a recent piece about the manosphere, the Campaign On Digital Ethics (CODE) explored how toxic masculinity flourishes under hashtags and podcast mics, and how influencers are building entire platforms by rebranding patriarchy as empowerment. MacG’s podcast and comments fit neatly into this growing trend.
What MacG did was reduce a successful, visible woman into a punchline. And the internet rewarded him. We watched, we clicked, and we shared.
This is the very essence of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), a pattern, as defined by UN Women, of online behaviours that target women and girls with abuse, humiliation, and reputational harm. TFGBV silences women, and pushes them out of digital spaces. It tells women: your voice isn’t welcome here. It tells girls: think twice before daring to take up space, and it tells perpetrators: don’t worry, no one’s coming for you.
And while podcasts like MacG’s thrive on chaos and controversy, they do not exist in a vacuum. They’re part of a broader failure of platforms, policymakers, and even the public, to draw the line. South Africa’s laws have not kept pace with the evolving nature of online abuse, and redress mechanisms are still a maze to navigate.
This is why CODE has called on Parliament to host a series of public consultations to amplify the voices of those affected by TFGBV and assess the adequacy of current laws.
We’ve recommended that an ad hoc committee be established, drawing from the portfolios of women, youth, and people with disabilities; justice; and communications and digital technologies, in order to craft a coordinated response. These steps align with outcomes of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, which calls for research into online violence against women and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
MacG’s platform, like any other, comes with a responsibility. Podcasting is not a free pass to degrade or demean. His remarks were not “just words”; they were a contribution to a culture that normalises harm against women.
While freedom of speech is sacrosanct, it does not shield actions that infringe on the rights of others. Minnie Dlamini, and countless women navigating South Africa’s digital terrain, deserve better than to be collateral damage in the pursuit of clout or clicks.
We can’t keep outsourcing morality to the market. We can’t pretend these incidents are isolated. And, we can’t keep raising girls to be fearless while designing a digital world that punishes them for speaking, thinking, or being successful.
Misogyny isn’t new. But the tech has changed, and so must we.
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