A civic movement on Thursday demanded that a ”degrading and discriminating” Rugby World Cup advert featuring Khoisan people be pulled from the airwaves.
”It degrades our Khoisan indigenous people as illiterate [and shows them] throwing away their own natural food and resources in exchange for a rugby ball,” said national secretary general of the African Renaissance Civic Movement (ARCM) Richard Huber.
He said his movement had sent complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, the Human Rights Commission, Vodacom, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and the South African Rugby Union.
The Rugby World Cup advert shows three Springbok rugby players in a plane. They toss around a rugby ball that falls out of the plane and lands at the feet of two Khoisan men. The men pick up the ball, tossing away their ostrich egg, which is used to store water, and return to their community to play rugby.
Huber said the people who appeared in the advert had not been approached about its potentially controversial nature, or about whether they wanted to complain about it.
”We never spoke to them, but we are in contact with their leaders and the National Khoisan Council.”
He said the leaders, as well as Griqua crown prince Adam Kok, had given the green light for the ARCM to raise objections.
”I’m a descendent of the Khoisan. We are in the urban areas and so we pursue this from a civic point of view. They are there in rural areas. Maybe some of our people go there and exploit these people because they are faced with hunger and will agree to anything,” said Huber.
Asked why they had waited so long to voice their concerns — the advert had been on their air for several weeks — he said: ”It was our San people in Eastern Cape who started to pursue this matter, so we waited. With an 85% to 92% unemployment rate we lacked the resources [to complain earlier].”
Huber added that Vodacom should rather fly across the Kalahari and ”throw funds” instead of a rugby ball to help the Khoisan with education and housing.
”Why do you not sponsor two Zulu warriors with assegai and shields or rather two Xhosa men dressed in their traditional gear armed with knobkerries?”
SABC spokesperson Kaiser Kganyago could not comment on the matter and said the broadcaster was ”just the platform” from which the adverts were transmitted.
”If people have problems they have the Advertising Standards Authority [ASA] to go to.”
South African Human Rights Commission spokesperson Vincent Moaga confirmed that the commission had received a complaint from the ARCM. He could not comment on the merits of the case.
”It will go through a process to determine whether there is a prima facie case that can be taken forward.”
The ARCM contested the 2006 municipal elections in Gauteng. Huber said they would also contest the 2009 national elections. He would not say how many members the movement had.
”Some of our ace cards we keep against our chest.”
The ARCM’s stated aim was ”to provide community services and advice to our community regarding community constitutional rights”.
Romeo Khumalo of Vodacom said on Thursday that great care was taken in creating the Vodacom Rugby World Cup advert.
”Every care was taken to work very sensitively and responsibly from conceptualisation to implementation.”
He said Vodacom’s intention was never to belittle or offend any community.
The campaign was produced specifically for the build-up to the Rugby World Cup and would not be flighted again after the weekend.
However, he said: ”In fact the commercial has proved to be highly popular among many South Africans.”
It was ”obvious” the villagers in the advert knew about rugby and were ”passionate players and supporters of the game”.
”It’s music and cinema that only a South African would identify with, and it fits the ‘man in the seat’ and Vodacom perfectly,” Khumalo said. — Sapa