Provincial MECs on Thursday came out in support of Sport Minister Ngconde Balfour, who is under fire for alleged racist remarks about white cricket players, saying Balfour was a renowned advocate of non-racialism.
”The MECs rejected the accusations of racism directed against the minister, whose track record of being a fervent proponent of non-racialism is widely known and acknowledged,” the six said in a statement after a Minmec (minister with MECs) meeting in Centurion.
According to media reports, Balfour said at a recent meeting with the United Cricket Board of South Africa that he preferred watching black rather than white players in the national team, that he did not watch cricket to see Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher, but Paul Adams and Makhaya Ntini playing.
He was quoted, apparently from leaked minutes of that meeting, as saying: ”Who is Jacques Kallis? Jacques Kallis means nothing to me.”
Earlier on Thursday, national cricket captain Shaun Pollock said at a press conference in Johannesburg that Balfour had sent him a fax which he read to the team, who start a five-day test against Sri Lanka on Friday.
”He said he was right behind us no matter what was said. The sports minister conveyed to us that he didn’t mean it in that context.”
At a news conference after Thursday’s meeting, which was billed to have transformation in sport as the main discussion point, journalists plied Balfour with questions about the alleged remarks.
A journalist asked the minister: ”When you see Jacques Kallis playing, what goes through your mind?”
Abrahams immediately produced photographs of the minister congratulating Kallis for receiving a national sport award, saying that event was answer enough. Another journalist persisted, and repeated the question.
Balfour said: ”I love all South African players. End of story.”
Asked directly about the truth of the statements attributed to him, he said: ”As I’ve said many times since time immemorial, I won’t dignify that kind of thing with a response.”
A journalist wanted to know what Balfour’s relationship with the UCB was.
”The relationship between me and any code of sport in the country is a good relationship,” he replied.
The MECs of Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Free State attended Thursday’s meeting, along with ministerial advisers Sam Ramsamy and Mvuzo Mbebe. Others present included Joe Phaahla, chief executive officer of the SA Sports Commission; Denver Hendricks, director-general of Balfour’s department; and Bheki Ntuli, a member of the parliamentary portfolio committee for sport and recreation. In the statement the MECs endorsed Cabinet’s pronouncements on the matter of Balfour’s reported remarks, including the condemnation of the UCB’s ”unethical conduct” in leaking the minutes of the meeting with the minister.
The Minmec was held to consider the release of the report of the committee of inquiry into transformation in cricket and related matters.
”…The MECs raised concerns about the integrity of those who chose to use the media to deflect attention from the report. The MECs insisted that they will not be side-tracked by this but would ensure that the reasons for establishing the inquiry is the central focus in cricket,” the statement said.
Balfour had been asked to urgently convene a meeting between all UCB council members, MECs, Phaahla and Hendricks to ”give effect to Cabinet’s assertion that focus needs to be brought back to matters of substance”.
The MECs had agreed to engage the provincial cricket boards on the findings and recommendations of the report.
”Responding to the Cabinet decision that the minister would submit a comprehensive report on the progress of transformation in sport, MECs undertook to carry out similar processes in the provinces to ensure that transformation in sport remains on track.”
The MECs concluded: ”All South African players and teams have been given the unconditional support of the minister and the national cricket team have been encouraged to do us proud against Sri Lanka.” – Sapa