They are not the best of friends, but after a meeting on Thursday morning in Johannesburg, former Springbok coach Andre Markgraaff and the president of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL), Fikile Mbalula, stand united.
Both support transformation in rugby and ensuring the sport will be one for all South Africans. Both are happy that they have spoken and reached common ground.
”I am very grateful for this meeting. Transformation is very important and I am committed to the transformation of rugby in this country,” Markgraaff stated at the beginning of the press briefing.
Commenting on the recent selection of 11 black African players to the national rugby squad, Mbalula said the ANCYL wants to see ”four black players on the field playing on merit, not because they are black African people. Rugby is the sport of the people, not the sport of a group of elite Afrikaans people.”
What is the reason for the friendliness between these parties?
Only 14 days ago, the ANCYL stated: ”We learn with dismay and anger, that Andre Markgraaff, has made himself available for the position of deputy president of Sarfu [the South African Rugby Football Union].”
More than seven years ago, Markgraaff called all the administrators and politicians who were pushing transformation in rugby ”kaffirs”. The remark was secretly taped and has haunted him since.
Both parties shook hands in the elevator on Monday, smiled and thanked each other for a fruitful and constructive meeting.
But was this a real reconciliation or merely a diplomatic game?
Sarfu is about to choose a new deputy president. The two main candidates are Markgraaff and current SA Rugby vice-president Mike Stofile, and Blue Bulls Rugby Union president Dolf van Huyssteen is the third shortlisted candidate.
Markgraaff is seen as the most experienced candidate. Sources told the Mail & Guardian Online that the deal is already done and that Markgraaff is certain to get the job.
Stofile is the brother of Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile, and with such a powerful political connection the support of the ANCYL looks almost guaranteed.
If Markgraaff gets the job, the ANCYL will have to sell its campaign for transformation in the sport to a man the league has previously dismissed. Markgraaff, on the other hand, cannot afford to be seen as an opponent to transformation.
So, this coming together may be just the thing to do for both parties. But has the ice really melted?
When asked if the ANCYL will, after Thursday’s meeting, support the candidature of Markgraaff, the answer was diplomatic and avoiding.
”We support any candidate that is committed to transformation and is not racist. For us it is important that the sport is transformed to a sport for all South Africans and not only for the Afrikaans elite,” Mbalula told the M&G Online.
”Markgraaff expressed his apologies for remarks made in the past and we consider him a good citizen of our country,” Mbalula added in a flattering tone.
But these apologies were not at first repeated by Markgraaff on Thursday.
”I have apologised years ago on national television. I do not feel that it is necessary to apologise again. Those remarks are part of the past and I want to leave it in the past. After all, reconciliation is all about forgetting the past,” Markgraaff told the M&G Online.
