I felt a sense of relief when Sunette Viljoen announced on Twitter she had finally received her payment from Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula last weekend.
The spat between the honourable minister and the Olympic silver medallist left a bad taste in the mouth and left my faith in two adults supposed to be setting a good example shaken.
Neither Viljoen nor Mbalula covered themselves in glory in the two-month long saga which has seen people come to the athlete’s defence while others got into the minister’s corner.
Their tit-for-tat battle was an example of how not to behave like an adult, and a bit of a social study on how social media removes a sense of decorum.
Nothing in the manner the two interacted with each other was dignified, which is something one would have expected of role models.
Viljoen lost some goodwill with her initial response to Mbalula’s pledge to pay additional cash bonuses to Olympic medallists.
On the team’s arrival in the country Mbalula revealed that Wayde van Niekerk would receive R150 000 for his gold medal and world record while Caster Semenya would be rewarded with R100 000 for her gold medal run.
The six silver medallists, including Viljoen, were promised an additional R70 000 each, while the two bronze medal winners would bag R50 000 each.
Viljoen responded with this Tweet: “ Money again promised the medallists. Hope to see it within the next year. The begging is set to begin.”
This did not sit well with Mbalula which lead to their public spat over the last few months which earned Viljoen more followers for ‘sticking it to the man’.
Personal text messages Viljoen shared on the social media platform revealed the minister’s spiteful side, though.
Viljoen posted a screen shot on Twitter of a message exchange between her partner, LiMari Louw, and Mbalula.
Louw asked the minister when can they expect the R70 000 bonus to which Mbalula responded: “I don’t know, maybe next year December”.
It went from bad to worse when Viljoen shared a screen shot of her own communication with Mbalula in a polite and sincere message enquiring about the bonus.
“Dear Minister Fikile, I hope ur’e (sic) well. I just want to ask nicely whem (sic) I will recieve (sic) my R70 000 from Rio. I hope you can help me. I really need this money. Thank you very much. Have a lovely day. From Sunette Viljoen.”
Mbalula’s reply was both vindictive and disingenuous as he claimed Viljoen said she did not need it and he would ‘stick with your wishes’.
One would expect a more dignified response from a senior government official and someone who claims to be fighting for the athletes.
Shortly after Mbalula had a proper rant about Viljoen’s bullying behaviour and her lack of understanding of how slow the wheels of government turns, she finally received her money.
The spat played out on Twitter is a true example of the evils of social media and how people develop different personas behind a screen. Viljoen, the battle axe on social media, is a far cry from the athlete with the sunny disposition I have got to know.
Viljoen has been a true ambassador for the country and her sport over the years and her absence on the shortlist for the SA Sportswoman for the Year award is clearly a snub due to her fight with Mbalula and Sascoc.
Pathetic!