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Social media fuming over racist sports transformation post

Cape Town - Matthew Theunissen's name is now trending on social media platform Twitter following a racist comment he made about Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula's decision to suspend the privileges of SA Rugby, Cricket South Africa and Athletics SA from bidding for international tournaments due to lack of transformation.

In a Facebook post on his account, Theunissen wrote: "So no more sporting events for South Africa.. I've never been more proud than to say our government are a bunch of KAFFIRS.. yes I said it so go fuck yourselves you black fucking cunts".

It was not immediately clear when he had written the post as his Facebook profile was no longer active.

His comment has sparked anger across social media platforms with some calling for government to take strong action against him, while others have managed to find his CV containing personal details and have threatened to find him and take matters into their own hands.

According to the CV, the 26-year-old lives in Cape Town, has a master's degree in environmental management from Stellenbosch University and currently works in water resource management.

Theunissen could not be reached for comment as all calls were diverted to his voicemail. 


Mbalula announced his decision last week on Monday based on the fact that the associations had not met their transformation targets.

At the time, Mbalula promised to review his decision when considering the results of the 2016/2017 Transformation Barometer.

He said he had applied his mind to and had taken into account the strides made by men and women within the sports movement to achieve transformation goals.

"It is not my intention to disrupt the momentum gained from the implementation of the Transformation Barometer and the global competitive edge of some federations and sports bodies. However, I am mindful of the urgent task for federations to move with speed in the direction of providing quality of opportunities and access to the youth of our country," he said at the time.

On Monday, in a video posted on Mbalula's Twitter account, in what appeared to be a response to Theunissen's post, he said his decision was merely to level the playing field, which was not level due to the historical legacy apartheid had left.

"The playing field is not the same historically and that is the recognition that white people must understand, some of them...

"And we are seeking to level the playing field and to basically integrate our society because our strength is based on our diversity and that is what is important.

"But what you cannot undo is insist and believe that another race is superior than the other," Mbalula said.



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