Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(S.Afr.) gossip, slander; thus skinderbek/skinnerbek, a scandalmonger (lit. ‘scandal-mouth’).

1959		J.M. Meiring Candle in the Wind x: Skinder – gossip, slander [Ibid.] 90: Perhaps that will teach you not to believe everything that old skinderbek says!
1979		Darling 83: I think skinner is the nearest thing we’ve got to truth. Ooh, yes, and I love eavesdropping [DSAE].
1985		Cape Times 2 Sept. n.p.: Gossiping is as old as speech ... So it wasn’t much of a surprise to overhear the latest skinder within minutes of sitting down at an international fashion show [DSAE].
1989		Daily Dispatch (S.Afr.) 13 July 3: The doings of the inhabitants of the Groot Marico are recounted by the simple, uncouth but lovable rogue Oom Schalk Louwrens — who isn’t above the occasional ‘skinner’ [DSAE].
1996		CyberBraai Lex. at www.matriots.com 🌐 Skinder, Skinner, Skinnerbek. Gossip is one of life’s little pleasures, and that is what ‘skinder’ is – gossip. The word is usually pronounced without a hard ‘d’ and most people will simply call it ‘skinner’. A ‘skinnerbek’ is someone who does it a lot, commonly without paying too much attention to the facts.
1998		Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 11 Sept. 🌐 In the anticipatory flurry of smiles and skinder, I chat to Mike Ellman.
2010		Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 13 Oct. 🌐 Skinder will get you fired.