Johannesburg - “THAT word ‘quota’, on its own, is sensitive. It gives you a question mark on everything you are achieving. It’s almost like you have done absolutely nothing. You can take a five-for but that is nothing. You haven’t achieved anything yet. The quota name hit me hard.”
Those were the words of legend Makhaya Ntini when he reflected on his career as a black South African cricketer recently. It is quite obvious that there is pain there, a sense of unresolved injury, a wound that is yet fully to heal.
In recent weeks, during the build-up to the Rugby Championship, there were many debates, many arguments and many discussions regarding how the Springboks will overcome the All Blacks, and how the New Zealanders would find a way to bounce back from a thumping at the hands of Ireland.
Bok supporters seemed to get a lot of stick for their perceived confidence and arrogance in the self-belief that they would easily defeat their long standing foe. There was a section within the New Zealand punditry that went as far as to call that optimism disrespectful towards the All Blacks.
For how dare we lowly South Africans challenge the might of the All Blacks and question their abilities? That narrative waned after SA’s victory over the All Blacks in Nelspruit, but after the loss at Ellis Park has now returned with gleeful vengeance.
I am not bemoaning the banter. Indeed, I firmly believed that the Boks would beat the All Blacks in Joburg by 20 points and was thoroughly put in my place by a defiant New Zealand display. That goes with the sporting territory.
But claiming the higher ground of “we are better than you in this sporting malarky because we respect all and sundry”, is kind of rich when you read comments like the following from New Zealand Sky Sports studio analyst Isa Nacewa, while referring to Joseph Dweba.
“Why wasn’t Malcolm Marx out there from the get go? This probably goes back to the quota system that they have,” Nacewa said on The Breakdown. “Bongi Mbonambi got injured but how do you not have Marx on the field? His impact came immediately when he got on the field.”
While we can all agree that Marx should have started the second Test at hooker – and not only in hindsight but with foresight as well – debasing a player based on his colour doesn’t seem all that respectful, nor in the spirit of the game.
Yes, Dweba had a miserable outing but to downplay his selection to, “Oh, he is black, he must have been a quota”, while not considering other factors, strikes me as being highly-prejudiced and uninformed.
The word “quota” in SA is so highly charged and racially divisive, that Nacewa’s comments – that were placidly accepted this week as matter of fact – can only be used in a derogatory manner.
Dweba, in my opinion, is a merit player who had a bad outing not in line with his ability and his form will improve in time, but it seems that his achievements and hard work are for “nothing”.
These comments come from a singular voice – one that does not speak for a nation but which carries weight. You could argue that I am clutching at straws as a sore loser, but it seems to me neither nation can claim the standard of justice and goodness.
Indeed, who is disrespecting whom?
@FreemanZAR