Rudy Paige Rudy Paige
Michael Nkalane
WITH just nine days before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in England, discussions continue on whether rugby in South Africa has transformed sufficiently and why it is still not reflected in the composition of our national teams.
The second part of a dialogue series on the issue of transformation, hosted by Labyrinth Consulting and Independent Media, will be held tonight in Heidelberg, home of Bok scrumhalf Rudy Paige.
The panellists are South Africa’s former No 1 volleyball player Anne Siroky, legendary SA Rugby Union lock Aslam Toefy, former Bok coach Peter de Villiers, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, local female rugby player Robyn September and local club rugby executives Dave Roberts and Pat Esau. ANC MPL Cameron Dugmore will be chairing the meeting in the Duiwenhoks Hall from 7-9pm.
Paige’s aunt, Anneline Hartnick, said it was unfair that after 20 years of democracy, “we’re still talking transformation... We should not be having these dialogues at this time”.
“Selection should be fair. Every deserving player must be given a chance to prove himself irrespective of colour.”
The first dialogue was held last week at Trafalgar High School in the city, where Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai said it was more of a discussion than a debate.
“Various people made their inputs based on their own observation of the state of sports at this stage. It’s not simply in rugby that the problem lies. We as a nation still have imbalances of the past that hover around us.”
The discussions on transformation in rugby came in the wake of the Springboks’ recent shock 37-25 defeat by Argentina. Cosatu accused Bok coach Heyneke Meyer of treating the game as a “private fiefdom”.