I support the rugby development efforts being made in communities
where rugby is an unknown sport. I am sure there are many dedicated
people trying their best to make a difference. Their efforts must be
supported and strengthened. Rugby development needs to be expanded
further and marketed at grassroots level in schools and communities.
Provincial squads and the national squad must be intentional in their
selection of players of colour. If they are unwilling or resistant to
that selection, I support government intervention as a last resort to
make it happen. Taking such a drastic measure is undesirable as it
creates resistance and forces people into entrenched positions from
which it becomes well nigh impossible to reconcile opposing points of
view. That drastic step I think can be prevented if we begin to
address the deeper issues surrounding rugby as a sport in our
country.
Before
we begin to consider those deeper issues, please allow me to digress
for a moment to share some of my own history with rugby. I have never
really been a big rugby fan. At school I played soccer and cricket.
Rugby to me seemed to glorify violence and brute force, and I used
that as my rationale for not being a big fan. I used to watch the
occasional game on television and I kept abreast of the various
competitions. It was around 1986 or 1987 I made a deliberate decision
to stop watching rugby. I made the decision after reading a book by
Frederik van Zyl Slabbert (I think it was The
Last White Parliament).
In the book he tells of his bold and unpopular decision to stop
playing rugby.
The
essence of Van Zyl Slabbert's argument was that rugby had become a
symbol of Afrikaner nationalism. He was referring to the worst
manifestation of Afrikaner nationalism in the form of apartheid.
Rugby had become the sport that united the volk,
that
proved the physical and sporting superiority of the white Afrikaner.
Rugby was a part and parcel of Afrikaner identity. Rugby was followed
with devotion and fervour, akin to a national religion. Even in the
deepest years of apartheid rugby was played at international level.
Foreign teams were welcomed to South Africa and their presence
celebrated as a triumph over politics and sanctions, in much the same
way that Hitler got away with hosting the 1936 Olympic Games.
International teams were sensitive to the apartheid regime in that
they discreetly refrained from sending players of colour to play
against our whites only teams. White English speakers were welcome to
play rugby, but it was always on the terms of the Afrikaner
Broederbond
appointed rugby bosses.
What Van Zyl Slabbert said struck a chord with me and I decided that I could not
watch a sport that was to all intents and purposes a bastion of
apartheid. Admittedly it was an easy decision. It would have been a
lot more difficult were I a huge fan or an active participant. The
decision to stop watching rugby has been difficult to reverse. I
still struggle to watch because to me it seems rugby still has those
undertones of white nationalism.
Rugby had a watershed moment in 1995 when the World Cup was hosted in
South Africa. As a nation we were riding the crest of the wave: full
scale civil war had been narrowly averted, we had a President who
preached reconciliation and South Africa was revered as the role
model of a relatively peaceful transition to democracy. President
Mandela understood the importance of rugby to the white community and
saw the World Cup Final game as a powerful opportunity for national
reconciliation, to reach out to the white community. The images of a
genuinely proud and elated President Mandela in his Springbok rugby
jersey embracing Francois Pienaar, holding the trophy aloft, is an
image etched in the memories of all who watched that game (and yes, I
did watch the game!). In that moment our President united the nation.
It was a defining moment for rugby and it presented a genuine
opportunity for the game to become inclusive, to promote healing and
reconciliation in our nation. That opportunity was lost and lost
badly.
The fundamental problem as I see it, is that transformation has been
interpreted on both the side of the government and on the side of the
rugby bosses, as getting the racial balance right. There is the
constant cry from government that there needs to be more black
players, that the game must become more representative. There are a
lot more black players and coaches than there were ten years ago, but
the sport remains predominantly white. Recently there have been
threats to force representivity, which has been met with fierce
resistance. To many in government, the only way to remedy the
situation is through a rugby revolution. I would suggest that this
would not be the appropriate way forward for now, that there may be a
way to use rugby transformation as an act of nation building and
reconciliation. I do not think it is too late to capitalise on the
foundation laid by Mr Mandela in 1995.
It seems to me that since 1994, rugby has morphed itself into a sport
that now represents a form of nationalism that encompasses mother
tongue English and Afrikaans whites and so called coloureds. Black
players are in the minority and are welcome to play, as long as they
stay in the minority. Somehow we need to move beyond the situation
where people feel threatened by black players to the point where
black players are embraced and welcomed for the good of the sport and
of the nation.
The first step is an acknowledgement on all sides of the role rugby
played in Afrikaner and white nationalism. It seems to me in the
white community there is a blanket amnesia about apartheid. There is
a constant refrain in the white community that, “we need to move
on,” that apartheid is something of the forgotten past. Any
reminder of our apartheid past is met with anger, resentment and
denial. This apartheid amnesia seems to have blocked out the horrors
of our apartheid past and how the black majority suffered enormously
at the hands of the white minority. Very few white people followed
the proceedings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Very few
white people have made the effort to face the pain of our past. Very
few white people have made the effort to familiarise themselves with
the history of the struggle against apartheid. Only a minority of
those who served in the security forces that enforced apartheid in
brutal and cruel ways have spoken out. Most remain silent. I believe
this amnesia and denial is a coping mechanism to escape having to
face the pain and the guilt of the past.
I believe one of the keys to break the amnesia and silence, to talk
about the past, allowing stories to be told, is rugby. Let's allow
the white community to talk about rugby, about rugby history, about
rugby heroes, about sanction busting international rugby. I am
optimistic and perhaps even naïve enough to believe that our black
community will listen and celebrate those stories. Once we're
talking, let's hear the black voices (especially those in the Eastern
Cape) who love the game. Let's hear the sad stories of those talented
black players, who could never realise their full rugby potential due
to apartheid. Then we need to be big enough and courageous enough to
own up to how rugby was used to undergird apartheid, how it alienated
and separated black and white communities from one another, and how
it continues to infect and pervert the game. Only then can we
apologise and ask for forgiveness. This rugby mini TRC is the first
step. It cannot be skipped or glossed over, no matter how
uncomfortable or painful.
The second step is to reach out to one another, to find meaningful
ways where rugby can become an agent of reconciliation, a fresh
symbol of a united South Africa, building on that moment with
President Mandela at the Rugby World Cup in 1995. This is where most
of the work will have to be done. We will have to talk to one another
to see what will work best. Good white intentions will have to be
tempered so that they do not come across as patronising. Black
suspicions will need to be addressed and allayed with some very good
and honest marketing. I suspect that the most innovative ideas will
come from our youth, especially those of the so called “born free”
generation who carry the least amount of baggage from our past.
Schools will have to play a leading role. Already in the old Model C
schools that offer rugby as a sport, there are many very talented
black players who are making an impact on schools rugby. One approach
might be to twin such a school with a township school that does not
offer rugby to provide opportunities for those interested to play the
game. Rugby talent at schools level must be nurtured in such a way
that it feeds into the higher levels of the game. Talented players
could be incentivised with scholarships to move onto college and
university rugby. Similarly, rugby clubs must be reaching across the
divides, finding innovative ways to market the sport in communities
where rugby has never been played.
The biggest challenge is going to be at the provincial, franchise and
national levels where one has to deal with professional players and
professional administrators. Once a person is paid to do a job, he or
she has a vested interest in that job, which is natural and to be
expected. If rugby transformation is perceived as a threat to their
livelihoods, stern resistance is to be expected. A way forward here
would be to seek a “buy in” commitment from both players and
administrators in such a way that their livelihoods are not
threatened. They must be convinced that we are not only talking about
rugby transformation, but also nation building and national
reconciliation. Players' unions will need to be consulted and brought
on board. There will of course be those who will not buy in, who will
reject all efforts at meaningful transformation. They unfortunately
will have to be asked to leave to make space for those who are true
patriots (no matter the colour of their skin), who have both rugby
and nation building close to their hearts.
President Mandela in 1995 united the nation around the game of rugby.
Let's recapture that moment and use it as an opportunity for
reconciliation. Let's transform the game in such a way that the
wounds of the past are healed and people reach across the racial
divides to turn rugby into a powerful symbol of a truly united,
non-racial South Africa. I'm looking forward to watching rugby again!
