RWC not priority for SA
AS things stand, maybe the decision to award the 2023 Rugby World Cup, not to South Africa but to France, was the right one. For a couple of reasons:
First, in 1995 Nelson Mandela, our leader was starting to galvanise the people of this country towards unity and nation-building.
At the moment we don’t have a Mandela, we have a Jacob Zuma, and he can only galvanise state capture. These two men cannot be compared.
Second, SA rugby is not in a good space at the moment and the performances on the field leave a lot to be desired.
The World Cup is obviously very lucrative but it also is very expensive for the host country and we would need to find gazillions of rand to do this.
Supposing we did, I take it a percentage of the profits would find their way back to the disadvantaged sports communities in order to promote the game. My question would be, what size would that percentage be.
SA’s economy is in chaos due to corruption, mismanagement and political infighting. Crime is rampant due to high unemployment. Who says this will be better by 2023?
I’d rather take the supposed gazillions it would require to host the World Cup and put them into education, health, building factories and creating farming opportunities and jobs to enhance the lives of the poorest of the poor. Surely upgrading infrastructure and education is a better investment than a once in a while sporting World Cup?
In the meantime the national rugby team can take the opportunity to play in other countries and improve their game. I’m an avid rugby supporter but one has to look at the broader picture. The bottom line is that all this money could be used for better things than for rugby and the poor must be looked after before thinking of sports enjoyment.
Europe does not have the type of poverty our country has, so good luck to France. The Bokke will be there to compete. The last time the French had the RWC was in 2007 and we won that one. And the last time we had it in our country – in 1995 – we also won the World Cup.
We’ll sort out our internal problems and one day we’ll be back with a vengeance. Cowboys don’t cry. — Clive Muller, Hamburg