Put your money where your mouth is
MONDE Tabata is being very diplomatic on his views on rugby in the Eastern Cape and I will tell it like it is.
We should be debating this issue along these lines:
Could it be that corporate South Africa is racist towards predominantly black sporting teams or federations? What contribution does government have in the development of sport in the country?
As a person that has been actively involved with the Border Rugby Union for the past 10 years, I have struggled to understand why it is that all sporting teams from the Eastern Cape cannot get sponsorship, a lucrative corporate investment or perhaps an equity partner when all the talented African players playing rugby and cricket are born and bred in this beautiful province.
When I studied sport management at the University of Johannesburg, my interest was and has always been to improve the outlook of sport in my home province of the Eastern Cape.
When I graduated, I left Johannesburg and retired from game with an intention to help with administration and sponsorship acquisition for Border Rugby Union. The development of the players has been a great success and unfortunately sponsorship acquisition an epic failure.
The Eastern Cape as a region has produced several talented individuals who have gone on to conquer the world in various sporting codes. Our province has been the leader in producing quality players within the white-dominated codes such as rugby and cricket.
Players that come to mind when you are talking Eastern Cape cricket are Makhaya Ntini, Monde Zondeki, Mfuneko Ngam, Ashwel Prince and many more. While in rugby you have players such Gcobani Bobo, Akhona and Odwa Ndungane, Jongi Nokwe just to mention a few. When the former ministers of sport spoke transformation, they looked at the Eastern Cape as the answer.
Sport in our province is dying a slow death, more especially rugby. In the past two years we have seen two of our provincial teams, Eastern Province and Border, going bankrupt a few months apart.
As a passionate rugby person, you begin to ask yourself where is corporate South Africa, why are they letting sports die on their watch? Are they no longer interested to assist predominantly black sports federations? Could it possibly be that they are racists? Where are the rich black business people, why are they doing nothing to support their own?
Our local federations and franchise teams do not have sponsorship, seemingly they are not attractive to corporates. Look at the Warriors, they are performing year in year out while the Kings enjoyed a superb year in Super Rugby in 2017, beating teams such as three-time champions the Bulls, while also finishing above them on the log, and also beating the Sharks.
Border Rugby is the gold mine of black African rugby. There have been 11 players over the last two or so years who have gone on to play for top franchise teams, and Border continues to feed other top unions with African players. And yet all these teams fail to get sponsorship.
Why is that? Is it because the management is predominantly black or is it because the people with the money cannot identify with teams?
Let us look at government. Government over the years has asked that sport should transform and has enforced quota systems and later introduced transformation targets to ensure sport represents the demographics of the nation.
What has government done to ensure transformation takes place, how much have they put in to support the largely black federations to develop black players? Cricket has done a great job to transform but now tell me, how many black players are produced from the Eastern Cape that are making it on international stage, well if that’s not evidence enough to say cricket development in the Eastern Cape has regressed. While rugby on the other hand remains untransformed only provinces such as Border that keeps the transformation flag high with practically no financial resources that has led to the death of club rugby which is really the foundation of rugby in the province.
In 1994, Nelson Mandela chose Steve Tshwete as the sports minister on the basis that he understood the role of sport in society and the role sport can play to unify the people of the country.
Our government over the years has not prioritised sport the way they should have and the constant changing of ministers has not appropriately addressed the politics in South African sport. It is also very interesting to note that municipalities would rather fund a one-day music event with R1-million and give a sustainable sport development federation half of that. Where are our priorities?
Go around our province and tell me how many adequate sports facilities you will find to compare with any former Model C school.
You tell me what happens to the sport infrastructural grant that is meant to develop sports facilities, but that is a story for another day.
We can’t take politics out of sport, but we should refrain from taking individuals’ disputes to affect the sustainable development of sport.
It is well publicised that Border Rugby Union survived liquidation by the skin of their teeth and yet not a single minister or MEC has written to Border Rugby Union to find out what happened and yet this is the biggest black Africa Rugby player manufacturing factory in South Africa.
When Ashwin Willemse had an allege racial issue on national television, the Sports Minister was very quick to announce her standpoint. Border Rugby Union and four other smaller unions have taken Saru to court disputing a 52% reduction on broadcasting rights agreement.
This is the main reason that will lead to Border to be liquidated by end of June if the provincial union is not rescued. There are many people within the rugby circles that will be happy should this liquidation take place because a lot of black players will not get a platform to showcase their talent.
A substantial number of persons will lose their monthly income because of the pending liquidation, with the high employment rate in our country we will see an additional 40 persons losing their jobs through the sequestration of Border.
Akhona Mgijima writes in his personal capacity