Cricket race debate heats up
VAN DER DUSSEN: PUBLICLY BACKS EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Eastern Cape Cricket call for ‘something tangible’ to be done to put an end to racism at all levels.
Rassie van der Dussen showed why he is not just a superb batsman but also a top-class human being as he became the first white current Proteas player to publicly back the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
Responding to a tweet from prominent journalist Max du Preez, Van der Dussen tweeted in his Afrikaans mother tongue: “I support BLM, I’m against all murders, physical, character and cultural murder. I support equal opportunities for all. Because I support BLM it does not mean that I support violence or Marxism, therefore I refuse to be labelled by people,”
The Highveld Lions player joined a mounting chorus of prominent sports people and organisations coming out in support of the BLM movement.
Meanwhile, Eastern Cape Cricket yesterday called on Cricket South Africa (CSA) to do “something tangible to put an end to racism at all levels of the sport”, perhaps unaware that the national body had already released a statement the previous night placing on record all the initiatives they have already implemented to ensure transformation of the cricket system.
CSA also reaffirmed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and said it welcomed both Lungi Ngidi’s initial statement in this regard and the letter of support made by 36 black coaches and former players.
CSA said they have spent nearly R385 million on cricket transformation and development in the 2019/20 financial year alone and will continue to invest resources in those programmes. They pointed out that 10 of the 12-person
CSA Board, including president Chris Nenzani and vice-president Beresford Williams, are black, six of them being black African. CSA has 64 full-time employees, 52 of which are black.
In terms of coaching, 92% of nationally accredited coaches in South Africa are black and 67% of national umpires and match referees.
According to the CSA statement, they support 612 township-based cricket clubs, 1052 township primary school cricket clubs and 572 township high school cricket clubs but the facilities in these areas remain a huge area of concern.
“The Boards of Eastern Province Cricket and the Eastern Cape Cricket Warriors franchise call on CSA to take to heart the racism issues raised by former national players and coaches – many of whom are from the Eastern Cape. It is not enough to merely condemn incidents of racism and publicly support the BLM movement. Something tangible must be done to put an end to racism at all levels of the sport.”