Row over white right-winger's Facebook photo

Offensive photo was taken in 2007, but the row has been reignited because the image was re-posted

A rightwing “hunter” in a Facebook picture paid a black child to pose as his “trophy” — but the photograph is not new.

Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela said this was what the man, who calls himself Eugene Terrorblance on his Facebook page, had told the police during an investigation in 2007.

“The man in the picture told the police he had paid the child to pose.

"The question is, why has the picture re-appeared on Facebook because it is in bad taste,” Polela told the Afrikaans daily Beeld.

“The police will investigate who published it on Facebook.”   

Beeld said it was an old story, which the newspaper reported on in 2008.

At the time, it was established that the rightwing Facebook group which published the picture had been started by students of North West University in Potchefstroom.

The picture features a young white man posing with a rifle over a black child lying on the ground.

The university took disciplinary steps against seven students who belonged to the Facebook group.

One was suspended but charges against the remaining six were eventually dropped for a lack of evidence.