SA sports minister welcomes Caitlyn Jenner

South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Fikile Mbalula, has spoken out about the sensational media début of Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner.

Jenner’s photo shoot and interview for the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair has made a huge global splash, with an outpouring of support for the reality TV star and Olympic winner.

Mbalula took to Twitter to offer his own words of encouragement on Monday, writing: “We live in a new progressive world, we learn daily. The story of Bruce Jenner now Caitlyn will be educational to all. Live happy, be truly you.”

He again tweeted: “Yes To a non-sexist World that respects and understands that Human Rights are not merely written but must be practical #CaitlynJenner.”

Known then as Bruce, Jenner became a sports icon after winning a decathlon gold medal at the 1976 Olympics with a world-record 8,616 points.

Mbalula previously backed the LGBT community when he attended last year’s Feather Awards to accept his Sports Personality of the Year Award, and told the audience: “Everyone has the right to live the way they want to live. Gay and lesbian rights are human rights too.”

American President Barack Obama also tweeted about Jenner on Monday, writing: “It takes courage to share your story.”

He included a link to her new Twitter profile, which broke the Guinness record for accumulating one million followers in the shortest ever time; just four hours.

“Another Jenner world record, and at 65? Who’da thought! Humbled & honored to have reached 1M followers in 4 hrs. Thank you for your support,” responded Jenner.