Cape Town – The members of the 1995 World Champions Springbok Rugby team expressed deep concerns about the violent crime in the country and has called on fans and players to observe a moment's silence before the Currie Cup final kick-off on Saturday in Durban.
On Thursday, they issued a statement which reads:
"We, in the strongest sense, condemn violent crime and the perpetrators thereof.
This week, the crime statistics for 2016/17 were released, indicating that a total of 19 016 murders took place in the last financial year.
In addition, there were 49 660 sexual offences, 18 205 cases of attempted murder and 170 616 cases of assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm. And those statistics only represent cases that were reported to the police.
The world average murder ratio is 6,2 per 100 000 people per year. The South African murder ratio is 34,1 per 100 000 per year. The ratio in which commercial farmers in South Africa are being killed has been calculated at an extreme 156 per 100 000 per year.
More than 90 people have been killed in and around the Glebelands Hostel in KwaZulu-Natal since 2014, and yet no arrests have been made in connection with the deaths.
Violent crime is destroying communities across our country.
In light of these alarming numbers, the undersigned members of the 1995 World Champions Springbok Rugby team kindly request a moment of silence for the victims of violent crime before the Currie Cup Final between the Sharks and Western Province, scheduled to take place this Saturday, 28 October 2017."
1995 World Champions Springbok Rugby team: Hennie le Roux, Chester Williams, Balie Swart, François Pienaar, Morné du Plessis, James Small, James Dalton, André Joubert, Garry Pagel, Rudolf Straeuli, Mark Andrews, Kobus Wiese, Krynauw Otto, Hannes Strydom, Robbie Brink, Adriaan Richter, Os du Randt, Marius Hurter, Christiaan Scholtz, Japie Mulder, Gavin Johnson, Brendan Venter, Chris Rossouw, Joel Stransky, Johan Roux, Evan Speechly, Gysie Pienaar, Hennie Bekker, Johan Roux, Naka Drotske, Pieter Hendriks and Rudy Joubert (In memoriam: Ruben Kruger, Kitch Christie, Joost van der Westhuizen)."