Mbalula responds to #MattTheunissen
People like Matthew Theunissen have no place in our society and must be isolated, Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula has said.
|||Cape Town - People like Matthew Theunissen have no place in our society and must be isolated as they take us backwards reminding us of our painful past, Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula has said.
Mbalula was responding to 26-year-old Theunissen’s racist post on Facebook earlier this week which has sparked an outcry on social media.
In reaction to Mbalula’s “ban” on three sporting codes hosting international tournaments due to lack of transformation, Theunissen on Monday posted on Facebook: “So no more sporting events for South Africa… I've never been more proud to say that our government are a bunch of k*****s… yes I said it so go f***k yourselves you black f***ing c***ts (sic).”
In an interview with CapeTalk's John Maytham on Tuesday, the Noordhoek resident said he had posted the remarks out of anger and that he would regret it for the rest of his life.
He told Maytham he would contact the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in order to deal with the matter.
But Mbalula was not in a forgiving mood, saying in a statement released on Wednesday that he had “noted with dismay” the racist remarks made by Theunissen.
“Our national imperative is to transform and make sport inclusive, fair and equitable,” the minister said.
“The EPG Transformation Report recognises that the playing field in sport is unequal. This recognition is what some of our white people must understand. Levelling the playing field is not a racist and divisive exercise, rather one that integrates society.”
The minister said he had also received messages of support for his department’s transformation drive and thanked “all conscious South Africans who are fully aware of the inequalities that exist in sport and the task at hand to address and eradicate them”.
“What we cannot undo however are racist people who believe one race is superior to the other. We owe no explanation to people like Matthew who have no national interest at heart but are blinded by privilege thinking that some of our sporting codes are an exclusive property of a certain race in our society,” he said.
“Our white compatriots and the majority in our country believe in and accepts the need for transformation as a process to bring about unity and social cohesion which are fundamental pillars of the constitutional principles of redress and equity.
“Racists are but a small fascist minority to which we refuse to be distracted by their words and deeds in fulfilling our historic mission of building a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society,” Mbalula said.
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