With next year’s Athens Olympics looming, there seems to be a concerted effort to get the controversial Springbok symbol to be the national symbol for all sporting codes beyond the rugby field.
”Top SA athletes from various codes want a relook at the emblem. It is not a debate that will be finished today or tomorrow, but we have to engage government, sports bodies and other stakeholders in the renaming process,” said Wilfred Daniels, manager of the South African athletics team to Paris in August this year, and current president of the Boland sports council.
Daniels on Tuesday said that while the Springbok symbol was regarded as the symbol of SA, people were asking why it belonged exclusively to the rugby team.
”If we do well in Athens it will further strengthen our case… just look at how dismally the Springbok rugby team performed in the World Cup. Why should they have the sole commercial value of the powerful Springbok symbol?” asked Daniels.
He said that black athletes especially had a voice to be heard about the issue, however admitting that negotiations for a universal symbol was some way off.
Asked about the politically and emotionally-laden Springbok symbol, Daniels said it was should not be unique to sporting codes that brought ”glory” to SA, while other codes were denied the right to use it.
Meanwhile, national sports ministry spokesperson Graham Abrahams dismissed the possible Springbok sporting lobby as those ”looking for news”.
He said the official symbol of SA sports was the king Protea and there was no debate on the matter.
”There is no groundswell (to get support for the Springbok),” he said.
Abrahams said anybody that needed to change the current symbols needed to discuss with various parties before such a decision was even contemplated. – Sapa