Ridiculed South African minister clarifies her words

South Africa's Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has clarified she meant to say "France" not "Switzerland" when she appeared in a TV interview on Wednesday to respond to allegations of flying her husband to Switzerland on taxpayers' money. (See earlier post)

"I have never been to Swizerland... We went to Geneva and New York," she said, sparking wide ridicule online.

Geneva is a city in Switzerland.

Ms Ndabeni-Abrahams wrote on Twitter that she "made an error":

Hay seriously you didn’t see that I made and error? Ndibhudile bandla ????????????

— Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams (@Stellarated) February 19, 2020

She released a statement, in which she said she "erroneously referred to Switzerland instead of France", according to South African news site News24.

"I profusely apologise for this error as I meant to say that we had not been to France in that particular instance, but in Geneva where Mr Abrahams had accompanied me on an official trip in line with the Ministerial Handbook," News24 quotes as the statement saying.