Outrageous and ridiculous.
That is how two political analysts and a constitutional law expert summed up sports minister Nathi Mthethwa’s request for SA Rugby to make a statement on players who did not heed Black Lives Matters (BLM) campaigners’ call for them to bend the knee.
Mthethwa asked rugby bosses to make a pronouncement on the actions of the eight South African players who refused to kneel ahead of a match that was played in England at the weekend.
The eight were part of 11 players from the Manchester-based club who elected to remain standing during the prematch activity ahead of an English Premiership match between Harlequins and Sale Sharks.
Those who did not kneel are Springbok World Cup winners Faf de Klerk and Lood de Jager‚ twins Jean-Luc and Daniel du Preez‚ their older brother Robert‚ Akker van der Merwe‚ Coenie Oosthuizen and club captain Jono Ross.
However, they all wore the “Rugby Against Racism” T-shirts, but their decision not to kneel has been questioned by Mthethwa.
Mthethwa was quick to react at a media conference on Monday, saying: “We do not want to jump the gun on the specific matter of the South African players in England who didn’t kneel in support of the BLM movement, but we did say we want to understand what’s happening and what is the position of SA Rugby in this whole thing.”
However, constitutional law expert Wesley Hayes said Mthethwa’s remarks were “outrageous”.
He said SA was governed by a constitution which allowed citizens the right to freedom of association.
“By demanding an investigation into why certain players that belonged to the national rugby team did not kneel in support of a cause is infringing on these players rights.
“Subsequently, any action that may be taken against them for not behaving in a way the minister wants can and should be challenged in court.”
Political analyst Ongama Mtimka agreed with Hayes.
“It is outrageous that the minister expressed such a view and appears to want the rugby union to take sanction against these players.”
He said the fact that players wore the “Rugby Against Racism” T-shirts showed they supported the movement.
“It should not be anything more than that.
“It has been interpreted into something far more than what it is.
“I would not have knelt and I support BLM,” Mtimka said.
“It is important when such movements like BLM arise that the core principles of freedom are not encroached upon as a result of what people deem to be crucial at any given time.
He said many people participated in protests for various reasons but many more helped outside of the limelight.
“Any calls for people to be disciplined or reprimanded on this matter should not be supported.”
Mtimka’s sentiment was shared by fellow analyst Mcebisi Ndletyana, who labelled Mthethwa’s request “political interference”, saying the request was ridiculous.
“It’s interference in thought.
“He crossed that old line between sports and politics.
“It’s a matter of individual players who do not share those sentiments and don’t think they should protest.”
Ndletyana said the government could not force people to react in a manner they wished them to.
“You might not agree with these players’ politics, but for them to be punished is crossing the line.
“It’s interference.”
He said the players had a right to hold their own views.
Political analyst Joleen Steyn-Kotze said the players acted in a collective by wearing the “Rugby Against Racism” T-shirts.
“I think there is still scope for players to determine whether they are going to take the knee or not.
“Potentially, there should have been more of an agreement and discussion on the action that will be taken so the team doesn’t present itself divided on the issue,” she said.
SA Rugby’s response to the actions of players was a work in progress‚ according to its CEO Jurie Roux.
Roux said he could not specifically comment on the matter until SA Rugby’s executive committee had met to discuss the topic.
Asked if SA Rugby would be in contact with the players, he was non-committal.
“Until the meeting of the exco has happened, I cannot comment.
“I would be speculating if I did,” Roux said.
“We will decide what our course of action will be.”
“The minister asked our president for our position.
“The president will take that to the exco. I will give him the latitude to do that.
“Then we will get back to the minister with a response.”
Roux was asked if the Springbok’s mantra from last year’s Rugby World Cup, “Stronger Together”, was still applicable‚ given the divisive nature of the debate.
“We have stated our position. There is no reason why we are not “Stronger Together”.
“That was at the core of the team. They will show it when they are back together again.”
SA Rugby spokesperson Andy Colquhoun said SA Rugby president Mark Alexander would first respond to the minister before giving any comment to the media.
“After that protocol has been observed we’ll be better informed to make any comment [to the media],” he said.
At the media conference, Mthethwa said the entire country united behind the Springboks during the World Cup in Japan last year and the actions of those who were displaying “racist behaviour and showing racist attitude” would not be tolerated.
“The first thing we noted is that they were wearing the T-shirts which support [the] BLM movement but they did not kneel‚” Mthethwa said.
“Upon seeing this‚ I interacted with SA Rugby through its president [Alexander] and I asked him to explain what’s happening so that we are on the same wavelength.
“You must remember we were together at the World Cup in Japan as a country with some of the players and one thing which cannot be tolerated is when somebody is displaying racist behaviour and showing racist attitude.
“The president of SA Rugby did say that they are going to be having their own meeting and they will make their views known.”
A stern Mthethwa said the government would take the necessary steps to deal with people who continue to undermine efforts to combat racism.
“I must underscore the point that there have been statements in the past coming from that quarter which seems to be identifying themselves with the BLM movement‚” he said.
“[The] BLM movement is important because the rot and the pain has been faced by black players here in SA.
“Racism is no longer in the statute books but some are practising it covertly and we are saying that we will hunt them down because we know the pain that is caused by this cancer called racism.
“We are ready to take whatever steps necessary to ensure that people toe the line and those who are racist are taught to embrace other people.
“If that doesn’t happen‚ government is going to come in handy to ensure that we do what the constitution mandates us to do.” —
Additional reporting by Liam Del Carme and Mahlatse Mphahlele
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