Minister of Sport Ngconde Balfour said on Thursday that it was not appropriate that speculations continue to surface in the media now that the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) has instituted a formal inquiry, led by retired judge Edwin King, to investigate allegations of racism in the Springbok rugby camp.
”It is not appropriate that allegations of any sort should be surfacing in the media when a forum has been created for such a purpose,” said Balfour.
”It is unfortunate that even before the inquiry has started, we have all types of speculation coming to the fore. Everyone who has the best interests of rugby at heart should instead use the opportunity to appear before the inquiry.
”It is of concern to me that there appears to be some resistance to this initiative of Sarfu. Surely, the best way to lay this matter to rest is to have it exposed to rigorous scrutiny.”
Balfour said the credibility of South African rugby was at stake and the only way to avoid a blemish was to establish the truth.
”No single person needs to fear for anything. It will not be proper for our team to go to the World Cup under a cloud of uncertainty. Too much time has already been lost, making it a major challenge for our players to focus on playing the game. We must remain committed to our players and remove all obstacles that are a hindrance in their quest to do well in Australia,” Balfour concluded.
Also on Thursday, Springbok rugby captain Corne Krige accused Mark Keohane of acting purely in his own self-interest when the team’s media liaison officer quit on Tuesday, while Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli insisted that resigning from his post had never crossed his mind.
Keohane said he could no longer be part of a side that tolerated prejudice. After pledging his support to SA Rugby MD Rian Oberholzer, Keohane presented seven pages of accusations of prejudice within the Springbok camp.
Krige, however, feels that Keohane was merely pre-empting a decision on his future.
”You should ask him [Keohane] how much longer he would have hung on to his job,” said Krige at the Bok training camp at the University of Pretoria on Thursday.
”Keohane knows how to get out and still look good. If you look a bit deeper into it though, you will see that he’s not such an angel.”
Although Keohane, a former journalist, denied leaking the Cronje affair to the media, Krige was still unconvinced.
”Why did the story come out? How did it come out?” asked Krige.
”There’s no racism in this camp. And there are always room changes. Guys like to room with other guys from the same province or who they are big buddies with. It’s just unfortunate that there was a racial slant to this one.
”You can ask any player in the squad. There is no racial divide. We are a united team.”
Straeuli, amid rampant speculation that he was about to quit over the fallout from the Geo Cronje affair as well as a string of disappointing results, also denied that his job was on the line.
”I’m just carrying on with my job,” said Straeuli. ”Media reports may suggest otherwise, but I’m staying on.”
Straeuli denied that the racism allegations had cost Cronje his spot in the side.
”I picked three locks and an extra loose forward,” he responded.
”The New Zealanders have also picked three locks and nobody thinks that is strange.”
As Krige had stated earlier, Straeuli insisted that there was no racial divide in the side.
”In every squad that I’ve coached I’ve treated all the players as equals. I think I handled the situation as fairly as I could have.”
Gideon Sam, the team’s manager, said that room-swapping was not unusual.
”As long as you consult the logistics manager, and he says it’s okay, it’s fine,” said Sam. ”The only guy nobody wants to share a room with is Lawrence Sephaka. It’s not because Sephaka is black, it’s simply that he snores so much.” — Sapa