Let rights body decide on Ashwin

There will be strong reaction to the finding by a senior advocate, Vincent Maleka, that there was no evidence of racism to justify the on-air walkoff by rugby analyst Ashwin Willemse from a SuperSport studio set on May 19 this year.

The incident generated huge debate and emotions with, as some commentators have noted, South Africans divided almost exactly along racial lines in their reactions to what happened.

Black South Africans believe Willemse was venting his frustration at the racism of his fellow commentators, Nick Mallett and Naas Botha, and the fact that they patronised him – a fellow Springbok – as a “quota player”.

Many white South Africans believe Willemse was being petulant and playing the race card to cover up his own inadequacies.

Advocate Maleka’s long, detailed, report and findings would, he noted, have been much more accurate had he had the opportunity to hear from Willemse himself. Willemse declined the opportunity, with his legal team saying the Maleka inquiry was not the right forum in which to vent the allegations of racism.

Although Maleka did not make an adverse finding on Willemse’s declining to be interviewed, he did recommend that SuperSport refer the matter to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) for final arbitration.

What the report does reveal, however, is that there was a long-standing tension in the relationship between Willemse and Mallett, with the latter having requested on a number of occasions not to work with Willemse. At the same time, the report recorded that Mallett worked very well with, and enjoyed the company of, other black SuperSport analysts.

Maleka is satisfied that there was neither naked or subtle racism (intended or unintended) involved in the incident. But there will be those who believe him and those who don’t.

Perhaps the HRC case is the only way to finally put this to rest.