Publications
Partners
Olympian Sunette Viljoen has once again taken to Twitter to vent her frustration at sport in South Africa.
She criticised Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula’s promises of more money for medallists and Gideon Sam, president of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), also got it in the neck.
Viljoen, who won a javelin silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games, took a swipe at Mbalula and Sam regarding the bonus money that was promised to this year’s Olympic medal winners.
Viljoen is set to pocket R200 000 for her silver medal, and Mbalula said today that silver medallists would receive an additional R70 000.
She expressed her concern about this, tweeting: “Money again promised [to] the medallists. Hope to see it within the next year. The begging is set to begin.”
She also reacted to claims by Sam that “he promised 10 medals and he delivered”.
“He delivered? What did he deliver? If only the truth was known,” she tweeted.
If there's 1 organisation that needs urgent investigation, it is Sascoc. Start with R70 million donation by the Lottery 2 weeks before Rio.
— Sunette Viljoen (@Sunette_Viljoen) August 23, 2016
Viljoen, who has been quite vocal about the lack of support for South Africa’s athletes, added that she “had to pay out of my own pocket for my Olympic kit to be adjusted by a tailor, because sizes were not taken”.
She added that, “if there’s one organisation that needs urgent investigation, it is Sascoc. Start with the R70 million donation by the Lottery two weeks before Rio.”
According to Viljoen, Mbalula blocked her on Twitter “a long time ago”.
Mbalula did not respond to Viljoen’s tweets but told City Press that Viljoen “complains all the time [and has] a lot of negative energy”.
“I prefer to ignore her tweets. Despite everything, she will always bring a negative spin to it. Go check her track record. I even twared with her sometime back. It is not worth it, honestly,” said Mbalula.
Mbalula added that Viljoen insulted everyone including Sascoc.
He said he had always given Viljoen her just rewards for her excellence.
“In less than a week watch the space. She’ll be demanding the incentives. She’s abusing us a lot,” Mbalula said.
Viljoen didn’t arrive back with the rest of the athletes today, because she has headed to Lausanne, Switzerland, where she will compete in the Diamond League on Thursday
