Not all black and white

Matshelane Mamabolo says South Africa sees itself as a rainbow nation but the reality is that we continue to see things in black and white. Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

Matshelane Mamabolo says South Africa sees itself as a rainbow nation but the reality is that we continue to see things in black and white. Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

Published Mar 25, 2015

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Oh the pressures of being in charge of the country’s national team!

You just cannot do anything right, can you? Not when you almost the entire country thinks they are experts in the sport.

Most coaches can deal with us news hounds criticising their decisions. It is after all our job to analyse what they do and put it out there for the public to digest.

And in a country as racially polarised as ours is, the discerning coach will learn to accept that he might have the backing of the people of his population group while those of a different race might be quick to point out his failings.

That is the sad truth of this country that often purports itself as a rainbow nation whereas the reality is that we continue to see things in black and white.

In my many years in this industry I have witnessed a racial bias that has seen many overlooking reality and judging issues and people by their race.

Who can forget how our white colleagues were quick to defend the late Hansie Cronjé when news of match-fixing first broke out? And then when it came out that Oscar Pistorious had killed his girlfriend, they penned articles proclaiming the “Oscar I know is a good guy”.

When Pitso Mosimane was national team coach and Bafana Bafana failed to reach the Africa Cup of Nations having misunderstood the rules, a significant number of those who backed him were black.

Gordon Igesund was the darling of a number of my white colleagues who could somehow not see any fault with his work with the squad.

Now that Shakes Mashaba is in charge there is a section that just cannot stop pointing at what they perceive to be the man’s lack of tactical acumen.

Sadly though Bra Shakes is not savvy enough to just ignore this and focus on doing his job.

But he is a pretty emotional man is our Bafana coach and just as was the case in his first tenure in charge, his penchant for outbursts might just prove to be his downfall.

He does have, like all human beings, his shortcomings and fighting the media for highlighting them serves only to give them ammunition.

It is a pity really that we cannot simply enjoy our sport without bringing the race issue into it.

Just yesterday when the Proteas failed to win their World Cup semi-final, I could not help but notice the distinct racial polarisation of the reaction to the defeat on the social media platforms.

The white folk were generally full of praise and pity for the team while my kind were almost in celebratory mood – pleased that the “lily white team” choked once again.

And then you have the politicians telling us racism is a thing of the past in South Africa. Please. - The Star

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