2015-02-20Staff Report 2 GETTING to know the internet as a valuable tool to assist in getting virtually every piece of information except make breyani, yours truly resorted to googling where I happened to stumble upon the definition of the following: DISCRIMINATION and RACISM By the way, our esteemed readers are intellectuals so without beating about the bush, let us take this burbling debate by the scruff of the neck. The one explanation reads: “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of categories of people on the grounds of race or sex”.The other “the belief that members of each race possess characteristics, abilities or qualities specifically defined for them to distinguish it as inferior or superior”. Interesting though is the synonym attached to both these words which is bias, bigotry, intolerance, which are just some explanation but others will suffice for the exercise to follow later in the article. Just a week ago, New Era Newspaper’s veteran sports journalist Carlos Kambaekwa once again tackled the sickening frequent occurrence of these actions. A few cases in point. Failure to Embrace Unification Why should this still be a problem, well because the other half still sees it as their birthright to control rugby? Noticeable was the absence and participation in the past of our white administrators with the silent notion – “let them bugger up our rugby” !! Squad Selection I for one dismally fail to digest the true meaning of wording quotas and would rather leave it to my learned colleagues, the blokes in blue suits at Lichtenstein-Strasse in Olympia. What boggles the mind is the process of elimination after trials. Lame excuses advanced are the outdated conveniently designed phrases such as players’ workload, inexperience and mental abilities. This is a cock and bull story – and immaterial, period! Why not select the best player in that position? Why do players of colour always end up having to be satisfied with isolated starting berths on the wing tailored to open space for players in order to suit a certain game plan? I’m just asking Collective Responsibility As it stands, its glaringly obvious that certain sections of the print media prefer to ignore this evil in our sporting midst. Lone ranger reporters and top administrators are seen as stirring the RACDISC (racism and discrimination – a phrase I just coined!) pot. Why only after 24 years of democracy must players still feel victimized? Yelling at rugby matches promising physical harm to the playing personnel, match officials, spectators and others in general, is just another sad episode in the annals of domestic rugby. The least said about the other’s anatomy, the better! Let us tackle it, own up to it and erase it! Commission of Enquiry Our collective filing system and institutional memory must be hard to follow, because after commissioning, inquiring, cataloguing and filing nobody seems to trace any available piece of valuable material to revisit our history. Are the “findings” too damning? To whom? A Genuine and Humble Challenge to Our Esteemed Readers Please choose one of the words (discrimination, racism, or sporty to describe the hypothetical scenarios below. 10 points. 1. Sports body bans / suspends athlete for being financially challenged. 2. Sports body arranges for player to visit wife in another country. 3. Sports body refuses to sing the Namibian Anthem at a Rugby International and rather opts to go with the colonial tune Das Südwester Lied. 4. Professional / Career determines salaries in national teams. 5. Women rugby players obliged to tog up in the open. 6. Sponsors allocating funds on Yin and Yang basis (one beneficiary submits a professionally compiled document, the other a one pager). 7. Player decides whom they want to be paired with in the playing squad on a given day. 8. Players using foul language towards colleagues, the referee, other players, medics, crowd and bus driver (during same match). 9. Misallocation of funds (though accounted for). 10. Sports controlling body (NSC) established by Act of Parliament but turns a blind eye and reluctant to exercise its mandate whenever confronted with serious allegations of misconduct by its subjects. 2015-02-20Staff Report 2
