Chad and ‘Cameroon’ steals limelight

inlsa

MAKING WAVES: Olympic gold medallists Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh wave the national flag outside Parliament. The swimmers, along with other Olympians, visited Parliarment, where they were honoured as the nations pride. Photo: Brenton Geach

Shanti Aboobaker

Political Bureau

PARLIAMENT went “mad for Chad” yesterday, and for “Cameroon” van der Burgh, oarsman Sizwe Ndlovu and “Caster, who can run faster”.

The usually hushed and pristine parliamentary precinct resembled a school sports day, as staff jostled to bask in a little of the star quality offered by the country’s Olympic champions.

Administrators, security guards and even the security vetting agents stood in awe of the athletes as ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga donned a tracksuit to pose with them.

Even the diminutive chairwoman of Parliament’s basic education committee, Hope Malgas, was in on the action, looking extra-tiny wedged between Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh, the stars of the show.

Later, during a special sitting in the National Assembly, Cope MP Haniff Hoosen jokingly told of his “jealousy” for Le Clos because his young daughter had traded in “photos of dad, for photos of Chad” for her bedroom walls.

A gaggle of schoolgirls could clearly relate to this, as they giggled sweetly, eyes rolling, as they were transported to Chad-dreamland.

The swimming gold medallist took it in his stride, though, enjoying the lighter moments sitting next to Van der Burgh, and sharing chuckles during the formal proceedings.

Sitting on the other side was Ndlovu, and Le Clos appeared to have him in stitches during the long plenary, in which there were about 22 speeches.

Also seated in the gallery were future Olympic hopefuls from the Western Cape Sports School, Parliament’s internal sports team and choir, and other well-wishers.

While Semenya and Oscar Pistorius are overseas – Pistorius is competing in the Paralympics – they were far from forgotten as speaker after speaker heaped praise on them – and the entire team – for their “spirit of sportsmanship and majesty of excellence”, as ANC MP Mamosoeu Makgate so eloquently put it.

Many MPs reflected on the need for greater investment in sport, with Cope MP Graham MacKenzie jokingly suggesting that SA offer citizenship to Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and some of Kenya’s long-distance runners.

He thanked in particular the country’s swimmers for not taking foreign citizenship despite attractive offers from countries like Qatar.

MacKenzie said Team SA should take full advantage of the country’s natural resources – including rivers, lakes, mountains and plains – encouraging greater investment in kayaking, canoeing and running.

The athletes had shown a “true South Africanness, a true unity” MacKenzie said, also reflecting on the moving images of Le Clos, whose tears prevented him from singing the anthem when he was awarded his gold medal.

“You have all won our hearts,” MacKenzie said.

As the plenary ended, Parliament’s choir filled the National Assembly foyer with song.