Cape Town - While the V&A Waterfront said it would be investigating allegations of racism following a confrontation involving black Democratic Alliance (DA) MP, Phumzile van Damme, and a white family, social media didn't react with a lot of sympathy.

After visiting the V&A Waterfront on Monday, Van Damme tweeted that she had experienced racism and punched one of the offenders in the face in self-defence.

"The family. This lady was filming me the entire time, so I tried to take photos & that little s**t in the black t-shirt came to my face & came within my face & [said] “voetsek you black” & threw [my phone] on the ground. He was threatening violence so in self-defense I punched him in the head," Van Damme tweeted.

After her confrontation with the family, Van Damme tweeted a video of her conversation with the security manager whom she said had not acted on her complaint.V&A Waterfront spokesman Donald Kau said they had contacted Van Damme after learning of the incident and have launched an investigation into the validity of her claims.