The meeting between President Thabo Mbeki and Springbok rugby coach Jake White is going ahead as planned, the Presidency said on Wednesday.
”The meeting is still on, as far as I know,” said presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga.
This after the SA Rugby Union (Saru) advised White on Tuesday to cancel, claiming he had not followed internal protocol in arranging the talks.
Ratshitanga said Mbeki and White would meet in Cape Town late on Friday afternoon.
The meeting would be only between the president and the coach.
He dismissed as ”incorrect” reports that the meeting had been called to discuss political interference in rugby and to ask Mbeki to intervene as pressure mounted on White to resign.
”It’s a courtesy call,” he said.
He said the meeting was ”not to discuss rugby issues”, unless these were raised by White. ”It’s not the purpose. When he requested the meeting, he requested a courtesy call.”
Asked whether he would still be meeting with Mbeki, White said on Wednesday: ”I don’t know yet.”
He was speaking at the announcement of the Springbok team for the Test match against Australia at Newlands, in Cape Town, on Saturday.
White would not comment on the Saru decision, explaining that there was ”a process under way”.
In a statement, Saru said White’s ”bold step” indicated that he ”has issues that are unresolved between himself and his leadership”.
”The leadership would therefore like to afford Mr White an opportunity to raise his concerns internally before he can take any issues to an external audience,” it said.
On Tuesday, Saru cleared White of misconduct over allegations that he ordered the assault of a journalist at a private function in Johannesburg last week.
The claims came about a month after Saru threatened to sack White if he did not accept its decision to overrule the selectors and place Luke Watson in the Springbok squad.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance has come out against the Saru decision to bar White from meeting Mbeki, saying it had ”no right” to do so.
”This is unacceptable political interference,” said DA sport and recreation spokesperson Donald Lee.
”Clearly there is a systematic attempt to impose a particular African National Congress-driven political agenda on South African rugby,” he said.
It therefore made ”perfect sense” for White to ”plead his case” with the head of the ANC, he said.
”We hope that White goes ahead with his planned meeting with the president, regardless of the decrees made by [Sports and Recreation portfolio committee chairperson Bhutana Komphela) and Saru.” — Sapa