Qui Bono
I never thought that I would one day read about the South African Council of Sport rallying cry of the 80’s shouting once again: “No Normal Sport in an Abnormal Society”. Believe it or not, this through the pen of Eduan Roos, a boertjie and above all, an accomplished sportswriter for the Rapport publication.
Eduan was referring to the Saru CEO Jurie Roux, who is currently embroiled in a court case where the Maties RC (University Stellenbosch) is demanding several millions from Roux. Why this case in particular? It’s simply because we have the same tendency here on our doorstep with the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) in the habit of lending a deaf ear whenever an unpalatable situation rears it’s ugly head. The same lame excuse that has been loosely bandied at NRU – and as South African Rugby Union President Hoskins pleads for unity since this is a World Cup year – the parallels are too hard to miss. Why, if there is nothing to hide, do the parties not come clean about the matter? I’m just asking.
Rugby this side of the Orange River in our beloved Union appears to be on Qui Bono cruise. Dana Snyman, another renowned writer, bemoans the current state of South African rugby with a very touching observation: ”There is just no more respect for the amateurs in colourful blazers making up our clubs and boards.” We bow to sponsors, greedy CEO’s, even greedier marketing gurus and hangers-on. Food for thought, isn’t it?
Quotas
By the way, Danie Vermeulen has resigned as head coach of the Welwitschias and a week later Naka followed suit. I knew it would blow over, since we have not heard anything from our rugby fanatics in Namibia who follow their Groen en Goud with bated breath.
No1 Naka Drostky resigned, Allaister Coetzee made way, and Frans Ludeke threw in the towel while someone at the Sharks also developed itchy feet. Did social media explode? No! As if that was not enough, Roelof van der Merwe left South Africa to play his cricket in the Netherlands. Well, its quite uncanny how one can get citizenship without having to shed an ounce of sweat.
Poor me, I’m stuck in semi-desert Namibia, van der Merwe’s excuse is apparently the quota system in South African cricket, but he was at pains to make it known that he does not want his kids to grow up in South Africa. We are saddled with the same mentality here, where it has come to light that many of our national players are armed with dual citizenship, in other words, TWO passports! Split loyalty?
Is that what you expect from a person who is going to represent Namibia at the IRB World Cup? I hope and pray that Penny Ithana nips these shenanigans in the bud at her earliest convenience.
In the same breath, we have Craven Week, Grant Khomo Week and Academy Week. We still have the audacity to rejoice when our national teams compete on par with South African Provincial opponents… Ag sies! don’t we have pride, or a vision for that matter to come up with something else?
We’ve been riding on the back of these quota rugby weeks since the horse and cart era. Solly and his cohorts are caught up in their roles of uncle Toms, that they are unable to see the trees from the forest anymore! In the meantime, let me wish Phil Davies, the newly appointed national coach good luck and a very warm welcome.
Apartheid
Yours truly is totally in unison for this and if you feel shocked, don’t be, my outies. Only when it comes to issues of self-improvement, upliftment and contributing to the progress of our country, because we are getting sick and tired of the so-called professionals, who only pitch up on our shores six months prior to the World Cup.
How can we replace them with home-grown products? Easy. Just follow the following Apartheid Rules.
Get a squad together of 40 players, all of them with darkish hide.
Put them through the same drills that are currently in place for our WC preparation.
Let them play for three years in the Vodacom Cup.
Ensure the Union secures a proper sponsorship for the Vodacom Cup.
Release players to feature for their respective clubs as often as possible. (we have 22 – 25 weeks every year to play rugby)
Be sure to get a small, committed and passionate group of administrators to run an eye over this project.
Investigations
On a personal and more serious note, the faceless moegoe who sent me the sms with a veiled threat, just for your attention, I’m not taking these threats lightly and have forwarded the content to the police, Media Ombudsman and my psychiatrist for further investigation. I sincerely challenge you to man up and come forward, don’t be a coward.
Adieu!