It ‘better be only a difference in opinion’, warns Parly on rugby row

The incident involving rugby commentators during a SuperSport television broadcast invoked much emotion, caused concern and should be addressed quickly.

These are the views of the chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on sport and recreation, Beauty Dlulane, who also called for South Africans to be prudent with their comments until they know the facts.

“South Africans should be circumspect in commenting on this matter, and should allow the investigation to proceed and reach a conclusion. As things are, everyone is venturing an opinion about a matter on which we lack details,” Dlulane said on Monday.

Former Springbok wing Ashwin Willemse walked out during a live SuperSport broadcast on Saturday night following an apparent disagreement with fellow analysts Nick Mallett and Naas Botha.

Before he walked off the set, Willemse used the words “patronise” and “undermine” .

“We condemn racism in sport in all its manifestations, as it has the potential to polarise society,” Dlulane said.

“The incident is concerning and should be addressed speedily, as it has invoked much emotion.”

On Saturday, Willemse stated on live television that he would not tolerate being patronised by people who only played rugby during the apartheid era. Before walking off-set, he lamented that he had been categorised as a quota player all his life, despite being the best wing of his generation.

Dlulane said if indeed it was found that the incident had anything to do with racial discrimination, as Willemse suggested, MultiChoice should do what is necessary as per its code of conduct that regulates the behaviour of guest analysts.

Meanwhile, older video clips featuring Willemse disagreeing with his fellow commentators have been doing the rounds on social media.

Dlulane said South Africans needed to accept that differences of opinion during sports analysis was inevitable and was the reason a panel discussion was constituted.

“This incident better be about that, and that only,” Ms Dlulane said. She called for restraint, saying that discussion should not be adversarial or be reduced to myopic, racial narratives.

SA Rugby on Monday said: “It would not be fair to make snap judgments. However, something was clearly amiss and it reflected poorly on rugby. This is a SuperSport matter and we have asked to be kept informed on the process of the investigation.”

SuperSport was due to hold talks with Mallett and Botha on Monday following “preliminary talks” with Willemse on Sunday. – Additional reporting by Sport24