One of them described a black man as a “kaffir” and Africans as “monkeys”, while the other wished all white people a speedy demise. But the two local models at the centre of a recent race war on Twitter have come together to assure us all that they are not actually racists.

It all started when Jessica Leandra dos Santos, a Joburg based model and the (former) winner of the 2011 FHM Modelbook  Title, tweeted about her encounter with an “arrogant and disrespectful kaffir inside Spar”.

She later claimed, after a massive public outcry that saw her lose her aforementioned title amongst other things, that she had been sexually harassed by the ‘gentleman” in question.

In response to the offensive tweet, on 7 May,  22-year-old marketing student and alleged model Tshidi Thamana decided to fight blatant, ugly racism with more of the same.

Invoking the spirit of late deputy minister Peter Mokaba, a man fond of the slogan “kill the boer”, she tweeted: ”Dear Mr Peter Mokaba, I wish all whites had been killed when you sang ‘Kill the Boer’, then we wouldn’t have to experience @JessicaLeandra’s racism.”

Ending racism by terminating another race might seem like an idea only a mega-racist could conjure up, but while attending a press conference at the home of Democratic Alliance national spokesperson Mmusi Maimane in Roodepoort, Thamana said she and her new friend Dos Santos have no qualms with people of another colour.

“We don’t have problems with each other, we don’t have problems with any race,” she said, having just met Dos Santos, who was also in attendance.

The two girls shook hands and posed for pictures while Maimane looked on in his role as peacemaker.

Thamana said the meeting was a chance for her and Dos Santos to take responsibility for their misguided outbursts.

“We just happened to be individuals that got very upset and very carried away in a tweet on social media and I think we are owning up to it today,” Thamana said.

Dos Santos, who has already issued what many feel was a half-hearted apology on her official site, said she was committed to undoing the damage done by her tweet.

“I didn’t realise the impact my tweet would have had on the people [it] offended. We do aim to reconcile and get the nation back to where it was.”

Despite losing her title with FHM, and several other lucrative endorsements, Dos Santos has seen her following on Twitter swell from around 2,500 to over 7000 since her infamous tweet.

Maimane said he would contact the Human Rights Commission to offer his input after several people submitted complaints after reading the offensive tweets.

“Its been a journey for both Jess and for Tshidi … I felt we needed to give each of these girls an opportunity to communicate to each other and certainly to communicate to you out there,” he said, according to SAPA.

The evidence posted on Twitter (though long since deleted) suggests that giving these two that opportunity may not always be a great idea.