“One can only trust a dead white man”
An alleged racist posting on WhatsApp has a police sergeant in hot water after white colleagues lodged a grievance against him.
“Never Trust the White Man, the only Time you Trust Him is when he is Dead.”
This social media posting resulted in an investigation into a sergeant of the Pretoria dog unit after 12 white colleagues accused him of hate speech and racism.
Provincial police spokesman Lt.Col Lungelo Dlamini confirmed that Sgt Hendric (Muthi) Mthimunye was the subject of a grievance process following the posting on WhatsApp earlier this month.
On his WhatsApp profile photo, Mthimunye is wearing a red beret associated with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party led by the controversial Julius Malema and known for its sometimes extreme views on race.
According to the grievance lodged by his white colleagues, Mthimunye’s posting was racist and hate speech and that it was a policeman’s duty in this country to deliver a service to all citizens, including whites.
“We work with him on a daily basis as part of an armed response unit of the police. We feel that we cannot trust a person who makes extreme racists comments. As members of the police we must be able to trust one another and depend on colleagues to protect us in unthinkable dangerous situations,” the grievance stated.
His posting also reflected badly on the SA Police Service as a whole, they contended.
Dlamini told Rekord that Mthimunye’s commanding officer was currently involved in a grievance process against the sergeant.
However, Mthimunye was reported as defending the posting, saying it was a misunderstanding and that it in fact referred to a friend of his with the surname “Mulunga”, which translates to “white man” in Zulu.
The sergeant told a daily newspaper he had been angry with his friend who had owed him money but refused to repay the debt. He said his posting was not aimed at his white colleagues and that he had never foreseen that it would hurt or upset them.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
