Fake Nico Viljoen account trolls SA over Spur outrage

An internet troll has been having the time of his or her life since Wednesday after creating a fake Twitter account and then posting tweets that are part racist, part satire.

The account spoofs the real Viljoen and, mostly, the opinions of white people who come to his defence.

The troll used a publicly available picture of the man from the infamous Spur video under the Twitter handle @ekisnicoviljoen.

He started out by getting attention for saying the sort of ridiculous things many may feel could well come from the real Viljoen, who is yet to make a public comment about the furore around his threats to slap a black woman in a Spur restaurant at The Glen.

A racist tweet from the fake account on Wednesday about how “these people” (black people) shouldn’t have been at Spur but rather at ChesaNyama has been the most widely shared and condemned, with many initially believing it was real.

This whole thing would not have happened if these people just ate at ChesaNyama like they supposed to

— Nico Viljoen (@ekisnicoviljoen) March 22, 2017

However, the troll has also messaged numerous social media celebs directly, including Steve Hofmeyr, who penned his opinions on Facebook about the Spur controversy. The troll not-so-subtly made fun of Hofmeyr, though of course many also read the tweets literally. Sarcasm continues to be difficult to understand in South Africa, it seems.

Thank you Steve – I was just protecting my family from that violent swearing woman. Now my human rights are being violated. You are my hero https://t.co/5DsKZVYe1H

— Nico Viljoen (@ekisnicoviljoen) March 22, 2017

The timeline of his tweets over two days suggest the troll believes he’s very funny and that all this mockery of the situation is a great idea.

He even poked fun at former Sunday Times columnist David Bullard, who was fired in disgrace from the paper for writing an opinion piece panned for its racism.

Bullard had on Sunday written in defence of Helen Zille that “If you’ve created nothing and invented f**k all these past 2000 years I can see why you would have a problem with @helenzille tweets.”

The fake Nico Viljoen asked Bullard to share what his favourite invention is, clearly insinuating there is no such thing.

Take a look at some of the other tweets. And don’t get tripped up by fake accounts, tweeps. Remember, they’re easy to create.

Hi David, I agree – these people are just jealous. I am a big fan of all your inventions. Which is your favourite? https://t.co/8F8BzHR0Qi

— Nico Viljoen (@ekisnicoviljoen) March 23, 2017

This is why Steve is the leader of my people – always talking the TRUTH!! https://t.co/h8eyt8NuFL

— Nico Viljoen (@ekisnicoviljoen) March 22, 2017

I was just protecting my family from that violent woman. Did you not hear her swearing at me?!

— Nico Viljoen (@ekisnicoviljoen) March 22, 2017

Ja its reverse Apartheid now! We have to fight back https://t.co/rv2zdauWI5

— Nico Viljoen (@ekisnicoviljoen) March 22, 2017

Why must I apologise when you saw that she said swear words to me?

— Nico Viljoen (@ekisnicoviljoen) March 22, 2017