Just when you think the noise surrounding Ashwin Willemse might die down for a few days, another bombshell is dropped.

I don’t know if this will quieten down the Ashwin haters, but a letter penned by four SuperSport presenters does point to a real problem at the broadcaster.

Xola Ntshinga, Kaunda Ntunja, Gcobani Bobo and Owen Nkumane have had a letter written on their behalf by MVMT Attorneys, laying a complaint of racism against SuperSport.

Here’s the Mail & Guardian:

…the four presenters have produced a list of grievances in their letter including the fact that particular roles as analysts were reserved for “reserved for non-white pundits”.

They also accused the pay channel of discrimination, alleged intimidation and victimisation, and the lack of pay parity with white colleagues who are paid more than black contractors, who they believed are expected to do more work.

Yoh – not a good look, SuperSport.

IOL says they reached out to the four players for comment:

…none of them were willing to comment on the matter citing that it was an internal process that was being attended to by the relevant parties.

SuperSport’s communications manager, Clinton van der Berg, confirmed the station had received the letter on behalf of the four presenters. At the time of writing, the broadcaster had yet to comment publicly, saying that the matter was being investigated.

Back to Ashwin for a second – according to the Rapport, and picked up by Huff Post, SuperSport “had tried to convince Willemse on four occasions to sign a media statement confirming that the incident had nothing to do with racism. He reportedly refused, according to his attorney, Nqobizitha Mlilo”.

They deny that they had threatened Willemse if he went to the Equality Court:

While Willemse did not testify in the investigation, he is looking at taking the matter forward to the Equility Court with SuperSport having allegedly threatened to dismiss him if he does so.

“The matter is being investigated. The investigation is almost complete. SuperSport will communicate directly with the individuals concerned. No threat has been made to Ashwin Willemse,” said SuperSport’s spokesperson Clinton van der Berg told the Sunday Times.

Looks like Ashwin’s concerns might have set in motion a moerse headache for SuperSport, and the worst could still be to come.

[sources:mg&iol&huffpost]