MONDAY, 8.00AM:
The rightwing Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport caused a storm yesterday by quoting a forensic expert, Leendert Jansen, who said the infamous Markgraaff rugby tape had been tampered with, “as a result, no part of the recording can be trusted”.
Springbok coach Andre Markgraaff was forced to resign earlier this year after a former teammate revealed a tape recording of Markgraaff’s hysterical voice on a telephone, making abusive and racist remarks about other rugby officials.
Jansen told Rapport that the voice on the tape is indeed that of Markgraaff, but there are inconsistencies in the background noises, which lead him to suspect that the tape was tampered with. He added that the tampering is so professional that he had to use special equipment to pick up the inconsistencies.
The rugby union this morning refused to comment, saying the tape was a matter between Markgraaff and Andre Bester, the former Griqua captain who made the tape. Markgraaff himself is abroad at the moment, but it is understood that it was he who commissioned Jansen, and that he is considering suing Bester.