South African cricket has taken its first steps to forging a way forward in its battle for racial equality in the sport after former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis admitted to having “got it wrong before” and that “conversation is the vehicle for change.”
Du Plessis, 36, led the way yesterday along with fellow white Proteas Dwaine Pretorius, Rassie van der Dussen, Anrich Nortje and Marizanne Kapp to publically pledge their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and Lungi Ngidi, saying “all lives don’t matter UNTIL black lives matter.”
Pretorius, meanwhile, stated that he will be taking a knee ahead of the 3TC match at SuperSport Park today because he believes “wholeheartedly it is the right thing to do”.
In the last couple of months I have realized that we must choose our battles. We are surrounded by many injustices in our country that require urgent attention and action to fix them. If we wait only for the ones… https://t.co/mVmiTfKkct
— Faf Du Plessis (@faf1307) July 17, 2020
The significance of their testimonies cannot be undervalued, particularly after South African cricket was plunged into a racial storm last week when former Proteas Pat Symcox, Boeta Dippenaar, Brian McMillan and Rudi Steyn lambasted current fast bowler Ngidi for wanting to address Black Lives Matter within the national team dressing room.
This prompted a riposte from 32 black former Proteas and five coaches expressing their support for Ngidi and the Black Lives Movement, while calling on their white former teammates to stand alongside them in their quest for racial equality.
The potential for the divide to broaden even further was highlighted by an emotional television interview by iconic Proteas fast bowler Makhaya Ntini.
The 47-year-old Ntini spoke how “loneliness” forced him to run to the field instead of taking the team bus.
“The first thing that comes to mind when I think of loneliness, is to not have someone knocking on your door and say, let’s go for dinner. That’s loneliness. You’d watch friends calling each other and then having plans right in front of you and then you’d be skipped.”
Du Plessis, who has been active in various communities providing aid to the poor and needy during lockdown while undergoing personal introspection, admits that after listening to likes of Ntini’s story and seeking out “tough conversations” with Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and teammate Temba Bavuma that he has a greater understanding of the “many injustices in our country”.
Said Du Plessis: “Good intentions were failed by a lack of perspective when I said on a platform that - I don’t see colour. In my ignorance I silenced the struggles of others by placing my own view on it.
“I’m speaking up now, because if I wait to be perfect, I never will.
“I want to leave a legacy of empathy. The work needs to continue for the change to come.”