Oh Jonty, you beauty, your truth will set them free

● Some among us want to pretend as though the privilege they enjoy is only a figment of the imagination of the members of the population who got the wrong end of the stick.

This crowd, especially when it comes to sporting codes like cricket and rugby, would like to paint a picture of a perfect world. A world where they pretend the playing fields have been level since time immemorial.

A world where equality is a vulgar word designed only for the tongues of swearing sailors.

Their warped thinking is tailored to feed the illusion that inequality died at the altar of freedom.

Freedom? Freedom? Story for another day. Until Jonty Rhodes happened.

Oh Jonty, you beauty. Hopefully your truth will set them free.

Speaking to Indian newspaper The Hindu, the former Proteas fielder said his statistics were average when he was first selected to play for the Proteas in 1992.

“I certainly benefited from the fact that I wasn’t really competing with 50% of the population. I literally was competing only with the white players. You talk about white privilege and it raises a lot of heat and debate on social media, but it is the case.

“I’m very aware of that. My cricketing statistics as a player were very average when I was selected‚” Rhodes told The Hindu. “If I was competing with the rest of the country then, possibly, I wouldn’t have been picked.”

Rhodes also told the publication that the legacy of apartheid still stains SA cricket‚ society in general and how the game has not adequately developed black players.

“We in SA have a legacy of apartheid. How many generations does it take to address that? You still have disadvantaged communities based on race. So they might

I benefited from the fact ... that I ... literally was competing only with the white players

have political freedom, but they don’t have economic freedom.

“The biggest question for me is why in over 20 years have we not produced opportunities for young players in disadvantaged communities? It’s not about racism. It’s about equal opportunity, and that’s not happening.”

The refreshing thing about the remarks by Rhodes is that there are some in the current Proteas set-up who seem to continue to benefit. Perhaps others can come on board and take a leaf from Rhodes’s book.

They get a lump in their throats when they have to admit that they were beneficiaries of an unjust system .

That so many of the majority of the populace were barred from equal opportunity by virtue of their skin colour speaks volumes of the level of loathing of fellow humanity. It was the order of the day. There was no escaping it. Some will give life and limb to hold on to it.

Exclusion! Oppression!

Discrimination! You name it. It was wrong then. It is wrong now.

Today, the struggle to right those wrongs is still on. And boy, are there wrongs aplenty! In recent years Thami Tsolekile, who was considered by many a consummate gloveman in the country, fell victim to this practice.

A player who may or may not have had severe back problems, was preferred by a clique of cricketers who wielded considerable power, enough to call the shots in the national team set-up.

It was AB de Villiers’ privilege that trumped over reason and hit Tsolekile for a six. The clique is back in command. They are back in full force in charge of strategic positions. It is no surprise that those hankering for the past have sunk their claws into Rhodes.

The success of someone like Makazole Mapimpi with the oval-shaped ball is a case in point. In him, we have a shining example of what human beings can achieve if no barriers of entry are placed in their path.

Racism is a reality that is part and parcel of the history of this country and the remnants of the practices of the past are still firmly entrenched in the present.

Twitter: @bbkunplugged99