Love Island South Africa Under Fire For Overwhelmingly White Line-Up

Love Island South Africa has come under fire for its largely white cast, with many claiming the show is not representing the diversity of the "rainbow nation".

The dating series is airing on screens in South Africa at the moment, but viewers couldn't help but notice one thing the first batch of islanders - they were predominantly white.

Sharing the publicity photographs from the spin-off show on Twitter, fans had a lot to say about the lineup, of which Durang Atembe, 22, Asad Boomgaard, 24, and 26-year-old Thimna Shooto are the only black or mixed race people cast so far.

DSTV)

"How are you going to have a Love Island in South AFRICA with ONE black girl?? #LoveIslandSA," wrote one critic on Twitter.

While another penned: "Y'all are in SOUTH AFRICA but you managed to have a whiter cast than UK love island. #LoveIslandSA".

"How can a Love Island South Africa be predominantly white???," said a third.

"I knew #LoveIslandSA was gonna be whitewashed, I just didn't want to believe it," said another.

They have a point. This is undoubtedly far from representative, seeing as 80 per cent of South Africa's 58 million population are black African, while only 7.9 per cent are white.

Twitter)

South Africa was an apartheid state for decades, ruled by white-supremacists, but democracy prevailed in 1994, and the country has taken strides towards equality ever since.

Speaking of the lineup, TV critic Thinus Ferreira said that the casting was "atrocious and unacceptable".

Meanwhile, South African actor Siv Ngesi posted a picture of the cast with the caption: "This is Africa!"

Twitter)

A spokesman for the show has since confirmed that more contestants would be arriving in the villa over the next few days, and promised they would reflect South Africa's diversity.

"Viewers can be assured this will become more apparent in future episodes of Love Island SA. We hope viewers will keep watching to enjoy the new starts of the show who will be arriving over the next few days," they said to local media.

Topics: TV News, TV & Film, TV Entertainment, Love Island

Joanna Freedman

Joanna is a journalist at Tyla with a particular interest in highlighting women's issues and telling inspiring first person stories. She's also their resident foodie, and loves covering exciting new beauty launches, too. Contact her at [email protected].

@joannafreedman