Javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen is still waiting for a bonus payment promised by Minister of Sport and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula, to all Rio Olympic medal winners.
Viljoen won a silver medal at the Rio Games in August and received R200 000 for her achievement – as promised by the incentive scheme laid out prior to the Games by SASCOC.
However, upon the South African athletes’ return to South Africa, Mbalula promised extra monetary awards, with gold medal winners to receive R100 000, silver medallists an additional R70 000 and bronze winners R50 000.
However, as of yesterday (Thursday, October 27), some two months down the line, Viljoen has still not seen a cent of the additional amount promised.
Viljoen has been critical of the minister and SASCOC in the past, claiming she was not paid since February this year despite being part of SASCOC’s Operation Excellence (OPEX).
Mbalula responded to Viljoen’s claims by stating she “complains too much” and has a “lots of negative energy”.
Viljoen responded to questions on Twitter on Thursday, confirming she had not received the extra R70 000 promised by Mbalula.
“Mr Razzmatazz Christmas” as Mbalula referred to himself when announcing the rewards, once again made headlines earlier this week when he promised Mamelodi Sundowns R700 000 for winning the CAF Champions League.
[Source: News24]
