Sports awards snub upsets Joost

ST011109(03) Joost Van der Westhuizen former Springbok player displays talks about his book.Picture:Bonile Bam

ST011109(03) Joost Van der Westhuizen former Springbok player displays talks about his book.Picture:Bonile Bam

Published Nov 6, 2012

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Johannesburg - The 2012 SA Sports Awards left a lot to be desired on Sunday night.

The lacklustre ceremony seemed unrehearsed and embarrassingly disorganised.

One person who would possibly agree with this statement is former rugby star Joost van der Westhuizen, who was one of six recipients honoured with the Steve Tshwete Lifetime Achievement Award at the event.

Another recipient was former boxer Elijah “Tap Tap” Makhathini, who could not be there because of a family emergency. His son accepted the award on his behalf.

Also honoured were the late Sewsunker “Papwa” Sewgolum (golf), sports administrator Sam Ramsamy, Petrus “White Hair” Molemela (football) and Sally Little (golf).

Petrus Molemela was the only recipient there to receive his award. Everyone else had a representative to accept the award on their behalf, except for Van der Westhuizen.

The award was bittersweet for him as he tweeted on Monday morning about the win he knew nothing about.

“Heard this morning about the lifetime award, thank you! Would’ve been nice to get a invite to receive it…”

Van der Westhuizen has been battling with motor neuron disease since he was diagnosed early last year. He has the most severe form of the debilitating fatal illness and his health has deteriorated rapidly.

He started the J9 Foundation to help people who are suffering from the same disease.

While Springbok scrum-half, Van der Westhuizen was capped 89 times and formed part of the winning 1995 World Cup team.

He also won a Tri-Nations title and two Currie Cup titles while playing for the Blue Bulls.

The Star

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