Dark days for SA rugby

2008-09-04 09:33

Related Links

Georgina Guedes

South African rugby is the playing field for transformation in South Africa. I still get misty-eyed when the strains of "Nkosi" fade into "Die Stem" at the beginning of every international game - not because I have any emotional connection to "Die Stem", but because the fact that in the spirit of inclusiveness and conciliation, the old anthem was incorporated into the new one by our first free government.

It is a strong symbol of how South Africans can live side-by-side in something like harmony.

The Anthem aside, the game of rugby has also been a stage for transformation in this country, and we are seeing the rise of a generation of black players who will go down in history for bringing the game to all South Africans - making this sport, in which we fare so well on the international stage, something that the entire nation can be proud of.

Unfortunately, something we can't be proud of is the racist action of a group of rugby supporters at this weekend's stellar match against Australia at Coca-Cola Park. That their actions in calling a young black woman "kaffir" and manhandling her were disgusting is not up for debate.

Whatever the colour of this woman's skin, such flagrantly disrespectful behaviour is unacceptable. When the colour of her skin is taken into account, the hateful nature of their actions elevates them from mere thugs to outright criminals.

When I hear stories about people who are as backward as this, I am always astonished to think about how they must go through life fuelled by such hate - it must be absolutely exhausting. It's not easy to get away from black people in South Africa - there are a few million of them. If the mere sight of a dark skin in a pleasant context like a rugby match is enough to incite an enraged response, these people must go through life with extremely high blood pressure.

A good day

Saturday was a good day. By half time we had a fairly clear idea that we were going to win the game - on the strengths of all the players in the team, black and white. That these idiots allowed themselves to feel such hatred and rage on a good day certainly ruined the day for Ziningi Shibambo, but I imagine that the day was ruined for them too.

Whatever satisfaction they may derive from molesting a defenceless woman, they didn't change the state of transformation in the country, the city or the game - and that's got to be a burden for them, doesn't it?

Nothing is going to change the fact that South Africa is now a democratic nation ruled by the majority. Our country is going to become more and more African, as it should, and those who aren't able to make their peace with this are going to spend the rest of their lives in situations where their anger makes them weak.

Because three men attacking a woman is weak - it's pathetic and immoral and the action of cowardly people.

I'm not saying that every white person should go out and find themselves a black best friend. It would be nice, but it's clearly not going to happen. But when a chance encounter causes their path to cross with a black person, supporting the same sport that they are, a sport now populated with some incredible black players, they should be able to find a way to graciously afford her the courtesy of a pleasant greeting, and see her presence there as being tolerant of them, as white people, in the country of her fathers.

And as for the spectators who jeered at Jongi Nokwe when he scored a record-breaking for tries for South Africa - just don't come to the rugby. Black players are going to continue to succeed in South African rugby. If that's going to upset you, save your money and keep your hatred at home.

Georgina Guedes is a freelance journalist. Ziningi Shibambo is welcome to come and watch rugby with her and her friends anytime.

Send your comments to Georgina.

Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.

- News24

inside news24

All about Oprah

Everything you really need to know about the Queen of Talk.
Frivolous Movember

Fans have urged Pieter de Villiers to do the right thing and shave his Mo.
The DRC conflict

News24 interviews MSF head Banu Altunbas about the DRC conflict.
Sun-loving California

Top up or top down, this Ferrari convertible is a thing of beauty.
It's the silly season

Not sure what to stuff your kids' stockings with? We have the answers.
Birds of a feather

Clifton 3rd, Super Tubes or Margate - which beach do you belong at?
Madiba restaurant

South Africans living in New York, are you homesick?
Vampires, werewolves

The fangs and claws come out as they vie for box office glory.

do I have to hear about thee 3/4 white guys from a crowd of 50 000 people! Enough is enough. That said and done I am glad she was not shot and gang-raped by them because that would be too awful. This is enough coverage for 0.008% of the attendees.

Im not a rugby fan but when the Boks are playing, I always like to show my support. Im glad to know that Boks supporters should not just be blondes in green shirts and a SA flag painted on their cheeks, and men with long socks on and eating braai boerewors. Thanks for the welcome.

What those so called men did was disgusting make no mistake, BUT why is this being made into such a HUGE issue? What about the WHITE women who was gang raped by 5 BLACK men? Why are no columns written about that? The torture whites experience in house robberies? I suppose thats not RACISM its CRIME. Sorry i'm not naive, at least she wasn't raped and beated...

I would rather blame alcohol than anything else. Why people need alcohol at a Rugby match escapes me.As you say, these people should stay at home.Let them get plastered while watching the box.Let Rugby grounds be for families and true supporters.

While what happened to this woman is WRONG, this story gets far too much publication and hype. Speaking of rugby then, WHY wasn't there not so much publication and condemnation when Schalk Burger's little sister got gang raped by blacks? Which of these two attacks are more "cowardly", "barbaric" and "hateful"?

but these hooligans are the minority. Most of us wouldn't think of doing things like this. We are not that stupid to think we can survive in this country by showing dislike for other races and cultures. I believe most of us are anti-racism, anti-crime and anti-hate, but there will always be some who ruin it.

Hi, I am a 38 year old white male, who grew up under the old regime and a big rugby lover. The behaviour of these cowards towards Ziningi is totally unacceptable. It makes me feel ashamed of being white. On the other hand, seeing the black support base of our beloved Springboks increase so drastically, makes me a proud South African. Let's all stand together as a nation.

Can any of you idiots do simple mathematics. 5 out of 70 000, is negligible. I'm happy, ecstatic, jubilant that that less than 0.001% of South African Rugby supporters are deemed to be racist. I don't believe there is any other sport in the world that can boast these type of figures

My view is that liquor played a part in what happened. Please ban it from major events. One do go to watch a sporting event, not to drink. Some people don't even see or remember the game. All South Africans love to watch sport. What will those people (thugs) do if they went to a soccer match and were treated the way they did to the lady? They have a bad character and most probibly treat their wifes like slaves, do nothing at home and expect to be served at all times, fat beer drinking men.

Racism is something we will be stuck with for a while. Let's not fool ourselves, there are racists of all races. We cannot only concentrate on the racists from the white side and ignore the rest. If we are to be successful in combatting this scurge, we must work on racial harmony from ALL sides. South Africa could be a much better place if all of us lived together in harmony and saw each other's as fellow South Africans. It is idealistic, but I think something to strive for.

Firstly we have only heard her side of the story,and no one has come forward regarding the alleged incident. Has she sensationalised in the media what actually happened? If it did happen why is there no witnesses ? If there were , then they are just as immoral,pathetic and cowardly like the alleged racists involved in this incident for not coming forward or even stopping the incident -silence can be misconstrued as consent to these actions! I condemn these actions.

We are a black family living in a white area for the past 7 years. We never had any problems with our neighbors or people across the street. My kids play at there houses and even sleeps our. We often have braai`s together and Sundays lunches. Not all white people are racist.

Why doesn't anybody say anything about this??? "Johan Bekker (27) from Krugersdorp related how he was attacked by two black men at the same stadium a few weeks ago. "They called me a white bastard and threw bricks at me, among other things. I was in hospital for two days and my hand was fractured in four places. It still looks like a CV joint on my hand. "But no one said anything then about racism," Bekker said. Why don't you, Georgina say anything about this?

Well said Georgina. Recently i witnessed the same at Newlands. Some of the idigenous folks were supporting the All Blacks and obviously this did not go down well with a few bok supporters. Although they did not accost the AB supporters directly they made some very directed racial remarks. They surely ruined the day for all around them. Not that teh kiwis did not ruin it anyway!

but I have to ask the question again,if this was supposed to be a proper trial run for 2010, where were the 800 security personnel at the time (and why didn't she report it immediately to any one of them)? If fair is fair then what of the case where the white man had bricks thrown at him by a group of black guys at the same venue weeks before,besides them referring to him as a "white bastard"? No racial link mentioned with that case at all.Very odd indeed.

Racism should be regarded as serious as any other crime, but in reality will never be dealt with the same force, due to freedom of speech/opinion (and the list goes on). With this particular rugby incident, there are no evidence to really support the woman's claim and so it's a bit like her and maybe a friend or two's word against WHOEVER, WHEREVER, ...does this person even exist? I can't help what the situation will be like if a older, white man/woman went to see a big soccer match...

Georgina, Something bothers me about this incident involving the lady. Nobody has come forward even after a substantiable reward offer? If I am wrong lock them up and throw the key away. Makes me think of 3 incidents involving white men. One was supposedly raped in jail, proven wrong afterwards, another dominee who was hijacked and later found to be gambling and a couple of years ago the army guy who was also supposedly raped. Is this not maybe someone trying out a bit of sensationlism?

...that racism is alive and people regardless of race, experience it everyday. Why do we not hear of the black on white racism? I will take a guess... Maybe it's because in SA racism towards white people are overlooked due to the past. WAKE UP PEOPLE and stop throwing stories of white racism all over the papers, while the rest do as they please! Really!

It saddens me too to think that there are people who have too much hate and no sense, so much so that they're willing to hurt an innocent stranger, purely because of her skin colour. I think its up to us level-headed and tolerant people to take a stand against blatantly imbecilic behaviour where we can so that we can inch these morons into the back of beyond... where they should be. Cheers to respectful, tolerant and forward-looking South Africans

When you step onto a rugby pitch all players are equal, they are not white or black or brown, they are players, some cover themselves with more glory than others in the game, but that is the nature of the game. So if to players grab each other in a game, are they racists?... Supporters drink beer and get geerd up by the game, emotions run high and opinions differ, some get a little heated, some physical. If anything, I think its usualy the refs fault, not racism!

and another reference to the alleged racial attack. But what about the other side of the coin. Like Tim2,Juan and Lew pointed out. The silence is realy deafening on those issues. Furthermore, what about whites being racialy abused at soccer matches, i have experienced that before.Once again, silence is golden i suppose.

I agree with the sentiment behind your column, except for 2 points: Seriously dont kid yourself... South Africans do NOT live side by side in harmony. The mutual hatred and resentment is very evident albeit papered over with a very thin veneer of civility for the sake of appearences. Secondly, scrap the silly cobbled together attemp at concilliation that is our anthem. It is an embarrasment that only serves to entrench the past and differences in culture. SA needs 1 anthem for 1 country.

I do so by learning to get along with the grumpy tannie, or the hate fueled taxi driver. Differences in cultures will not fade over night and I therefore expect to experience racism in whatever form, everyday. I would love to see a live debate on television with a big 'mielie boer' from the free state, a taxi gang war boss, a corrupt government official, a 'dominee and then see the real racism coming from each corner. A company like Multichoice will really get the audience's attention.

... a rat that believes it can stir the racial pot a bit more. I have been to Ellis Park and if the ALLEGED incident took place where she claims, there are security guards right there. All the entrances into the stands have security guards. I suppose when I was attacked by 5 blacks it was crime even though they didn't take anything... at least I didn't run to the press about racism. Waste of an article.

I also condemn this isolated incident in the strongest sense. Thumbs up for competent black players BUT: Not a rugby supporter myself but I have sympathy with SA Rugby supporters when dark political issues start to cloud the pitch. The Rugby columns are some of the dire few places in South African newspapers where good news can still be found. Most other areas of our majority ruled SA (Political, Safety, Energy, name it) seem to be coming apart at the seams!

What those so called men did was disgusting make no mistake, BUT why is this being made into such a HUGE issue? What about when Schalk Burger's little sister got gang raped by blacks? Which of these two attacks are ore "cowardly", "barbaric" and "hateful"? Why are no columns written about that? The torture whites experience in house robberies? I suppose thats not RACISM its CRIME. Sorry i'm not naive, at least she wasn't raped and beated. Refer to reverse rasism comments above...Very odd indeed!

rumours are that the aussies were instructed not to get themselves injured in this game, I had a second look at the game and it is CLEAR that they threw this game,zero commitment, some just jogging along . Together with the racist attack, it was a shameful day for rugby, the game cannot survive this sort of nonsense.

It seems like every time a black woman or man gets treated ill by a white person it's deemed as racism, what off all the incidents where it was just the reverse, it bothers me that no one has come forward with any evidence of the incident even with the substantial reward offered, this is a one sided story and the outcry is ridiculous, where were the 800 security guards, why didn't she go to them, I am sure the accused would have been dealt with immediately, what about the man that was hit by bricks at the same stadium not too long ago, or is it only racism when a white man is accused of assaulting a black, I say no more?.!!!!

I was at that game, I NEVER heard one of the 50k people jeer Jonge Nokwe. I heard the whole stadium erupt on every try he scored!!! Watching the reply at home, I even saw one lucky fan (a white one I might add) get a high five from Jongwe on his first try!!!! I did hear the fans boo one player and that was Luke Watson, news worthy?no he?s white!!!!

I'm a black woman who happenes to love rugby. Fortunately, I have not had such an experience, and never hope to. Am currently living in London, and one of the best times I've had is spending a Saturday in a pub with my Springbok t-shirt amongst all other South Africans (all white) and enjoying a good game of rugby. For some reason we are a nation that comes together through sports, let's not allow a few idiots to change that.

What happened to this woman at the rugby is nothing!!!! Have you seen want happened in SA outside the rugby stadiums?? White people are raped, robbed and slaughtered!! This is just the beginning of white people coming to terms with crime and violence and you will see much more. Hoskins of SA Rugby and his crowd are all racists as they will say nothing if a white woman is attacked at a rugby stadium.

The first time I saw and heard the woman on TV who was allegedly attacked I was immediately doubtful of her story the way she told it and her physical appearance - she is looking for her 10 minutes of fame.

Frankly, I think we as black we should start beating and harrasing white people. Dont preach this democratic and freedom crap to me. Spirit of inclusion my foot, Whites hate blacks and that aint gonna change! Its just a question of returning the favour, back to them. And its gonna happen!

First she claimed she was "racially abused" and later switched to "physically and verbally abused". So what REALLY happened? My vote goes that she was looking for attention, and then tweaked the story to wring as much publicity as possible out of it. And like the good idiots we are everyone is "condemning" the "racist whites". Why did she not scream? Why did nobody see? No report to security? Because it never happened as she tells it!! Come on people!! See this for what it really is!!

This kind of behaviour by anybody is absolutely disgraceful and people like that should be banned from stadiums. This incident by a few idiots leaves such a bad taste in many people?s mouths and should not be tolerated. But unfortunately it will continue until people sitting next to or near idiots like these, decide to stand up and stop this kind of idiocy. I am a white lady and rugby season ticket holder and used to really enjoy going to the games as a family outing. But things like this as well as being abused by white men really put me off going. Especially to international games when it costs you an arm and a leg to get a ticket in the first place and then when you get there, it can be very unpleasant. Swearing and talk that will make a sailor blush and having to deal with drunken idiots touching and harassing you is only bearable for so long. I really hope that South African rugby crowds would just be a little more considerate of other people when going to games.

You know why they booed Watson? Simply because he (like his coach) is there because of political interference only,unlike the rest of the squad (including ALL of the non-white guys) who are there on merit.

Any man who attacks a woman like that is a coward! No argument. That the attack was racially based makes this even worse. Like Anton Greef I am a 40'ish White male who could not be happier that the love Rugby is spreading to other south Africans. To those few idiots who cannot get over their bigotry I have only this to say. If you cannot love Africa and ALL of her people's. Then move somewhere else.

So big man why don't you publish your name? Coward! Suprised they published your comment. Sad thing for you though is that we still hold all the financial power, try that and watch your pathetic little world fall apart. Do you think we only have influence in this country? Suppose the editor won't publish this though...

I am a white british male and I have been in S.A for 21 years. I hate racism and I hate the generalisation that comes with racist postings such as this. As usual, the story has had massive media coverage. Why, she is a black female, attacked alledgedly by three whites. I have had racist dealings with more Afrikaaners than blacks to be honest, do I hate them, no, my best mates are afrikaans, just like some posts have said, don't paint everyone with the same brush.

The entire event is fabricated. Why are there no witnesses, cellphone footage, recordings etc? And why was there no issue made when previously a white man was attacked by blacks at this very same venue? Provide proof, and I might believe it. This is ridiculous to say the least. Goes to show that everything is believed that is published in the media.

Frankly anonymous you comment shows a lack of depth and forsight. Why do you want to beat up white ppl? This country will be nothing will out them. it will fall to pieces like the rest of Africa has. I think may we shud all hunt u down and beat some sense into you. Why does the editor of this site allow such trash to be posted, are you trying to insight racial tension. Come on the only chance this country has is if we all work together to build a safer, better SA.

800 000 emmigrated from RSA in 2007??? Plus me and many more to follow as per emmigration seminars & interest expressed with offshore embasies, the likes of "ANONYMOUS" will soon get their way & vent crime on their own people. "You been having it", i.e. not will do rather already doing it. No more Rugby OR RSA rugby (bokke) "all black" & no "(Jake)White" supporters. Then Hoskins will sanction games, only in Soweto. Then no tri-nations / super14. Eish. Is that really what they want?

When I was at University, dozens of protesting black students ran into the lecture theatre, screamed anti-white abuse at me and the other white students, hosed us down with a fire hose, sprayed fire extinguisher foam into our faces, ripped up our lecture notes, threw the overhead projector on the ground and called the black students who weren't protesting "coconuts". The "protest" was mentioned in the papers. But no one said anything about the racism that was directed at the white students. WHY?

	Life Insurance			Car Insurance
	UK Lottery			Insurance for Women
	Get up to R1 000 free!			Life Insurance for Women
	Personal Loans and Credit Cards			Free Business Insurance Quote
	Shop online at MTN Direct			Get direct access to up to R50 000
	Restore your balance

Johannesburg

Dark days for SA rugby

Related Links

Other Stories in News24...

inside news24

Jobs - Find your dream job

Cars - Search 1000's of new and used cars

Property - Find a new home

Travel - Look, Book, Go!

Free Games - TOO MUCH NEWS? TAKE A BREAK!

Kalahari.net - shop online today

Sponsored links

Hot Deal of the Day!

Up to 30% off Books

services