Does one object to kissing the bride on principle?

players would have to take the knee.

Graeme Smith, Marc Boucher and Temba Bavuma were duly informed to tell the team. The directive was communicated to the players on a bus ride from their Abu Dhabi hotel on the way to the stadium. Sources close to the team say it was allegedly also made clear to them that any refusal to do so would become a labour issue – ie, a termination of their contracts. De Kock refused and the proverbial nasties hit the fan.

It is easy to see why so many South Africans were angered. If Quinton de Kock wears pink for cancer or black armbands to honour deceased greats of the game or to oppose GBV when required, hell, he has even made the sign to save the rhinos, why object to a universally accepted gesture to fight racism? If he has learned the words of the national anthem and wears the appropriate kit when representing his country, why would he have difficulty with this one?

His objection was to the order by CSA just hours before a crucial game. He was also worried that the gesture has become a token and presumably some of the players who complied did not do so out of sincerity but to save their careers. “I won’t lie, I was shocked that we were told on the way to an important match that there was an instruction we had to follow or a perceived ‘or else’. I don’t think I was the only one,” he said in a statement released on Thursday morning.

Is it not rather like objecting to kissing the bride because the priest told you to do so – on principle? Does that make any sense?

Still for those who know him, De Kock is not a racist. Poll all the black players who play and work with him and they will tell you that he has done more to enhance their lives in the team than anyone else, swears Zama.

But the sexual predator doesn’t always hide from the bushes ready to pounce and slit the throat of his victims. What is more likely is an inappropriate touch or an uncomfortable word, a moment laced with innuendo and double entendre. At all times perpetrators make sure they have plausible deniability.

So similarly, can you really vouch for someone’s lack of racism? Can you really be sure? Should it not be their choices and actions, consistently over time that put the matter beyond any doubt?

Bingwa is the host of 702 Breakfast and a Carte Blanche presenter.