Wayde van Niekerk has won the hearts of all South Africans — so much so that you dare not make gat of the Olympic hero.
Cape Town comedian Devon Saunders learnt the hard way when he created a meme to show people just why the 400m record breaker got so fast.
By yesterday the meme was shared more than 12 000 times, while Saunders received nearly 1 000 comments on his post.
The three-photo meme by internet joker Saunders, known as DevdonDidIt, is captioned: “Well Done Wayde’s World SA # proudlySouthAfrican.”
In the first photo, Wayde is being chased on the track by a cheetah. It reads: “How foreigners think Wayde learnt to run.”
The second pic is of Wayde running from a cop, who is aiming a gun at him, and reads: “How white South Africans think Wayde learnt to run.”
The third one is that of a thick leather belt and little boy about to get a hiding, and reads: “But Coloured people know!”
Some commented on the meme saying it was hilarious and said they could actually picture themselves running away from a hiding as kids.
Shannon van Wyk said: “Best meme EVER.”
Some people saw the humour Devon's take on Wayde's win, while others saw it as racially motivated insult. CREDIT: Facebook
And then there were the people who took offence, and slammed Saunders as a racist trying to cash in on Wayde’s fame.
Cathy Glazer Venter commented: “I’m white. How rude… I acknowledge his God-given talent.”
Fred Fisher wrote: “For Devon to say that us whites see coloured’s in that way of crime, so to say, is a genuine slap in our faces. This guy needs a real job. Being a comedian is not for him, because he’s not funny.”
Lucky Jama Benya wrote: “This is bulls***…. Why are you people perpetuating this racial segregation… this is nauseating.”
Thapelo Trompies Mahuta: “Whoever thinks this is funny is f***ed up.. White ppl won medals and no racist remarks was posted. (sic)”
Janine Cloete Meyer said: “I think you must keep your views to yourself, Mr. @DevDonDidIt you are making coloureds look stupid, including yourself seeing that you are also a COLOURED.”
But Devon tells Daily Voice his meme was not meant to offend.
“Being a comedian, whenever something major happens, I always search for the humour in it. It was never a racial ploy. If we cannot laugh at ourselves we will never get over anything. We are a unique nation of colourful people. I have the greatest respect for Wayde and his achievement,” says Devon.