The renewed and persistent demands by political party Agency for New Agenda for transformation in rugby, was brought with a shocking disregard and ignorance regarding government and the South African Rugby Union’s (Saru) ongoing commitment and effort towards transforming this sport.
This is according to Saru president Oregan Hoskins, in reply to allegations of non-transformation made by the party. He said the court should simply dismiss the application and slap the party with a punitive costs order.
Hoskins called the application “feeble” and said the baseless statements made by party leader, Edward Mokhoanatse, in his affidavit to the high court in Pretoria, were vexatious.
Hoskins made these averments in an answering affidavit filed at court in reaction to an affidavit made by Mokhoanatse and his party in which they are asking for an array of orders, aimed at “transforming” rugby. The party had given government until 2019 to transform the sport.
They also want the court to order President Jacob Zuma to appoint a commission of inquiry into transformation of rugby and they want the Springbok emblem to be discarded.
The party turned to the court in October, days before the team was due to leave for England to participate in the World Cup. One of the demands at the time was for the court to prevent the team from leaving, as it was not transformed enough.
That application was put on hold as a judge said the issues were too vast to argue in an urgent application. It was agreed that the party would file further papers in which it would address its concerns.
In its renewed bid, more demands were added and the party asked that a full bench (three judges) should hear the application, set down for February 23.
In his submission Hoskins said it appeared that the applicant is totally ignorant regarding the allegations on which it is relying on in bringing this application and in which it said that government, in spite of its promises of transformation in 1994, did nothing to transform rugby. He pointed out that, for example, there is a tripartite agreement, concluded earlier this year, between Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA), Saru and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) where transformation objectives were set. A transformation roadmap for rugby for the next five years was also set.
Hoskins at the time announced that, among others, that by 2019, 150 000 primary school children would be introduced to the game.
Hoskins said to “compound the feebleness” of the main application, Mokhoanatse had in a media interview practically conceded that the applicants were using rugby as a tool to further their own political goals. He said it was also a tactical move aimed at transferring the responsibility for the transformation of sport, and rugby in particular, away from the Minister of Sport and Saru, and hand it to the courts.
“This underscores that the application itself is entirely vexatious and should be dismissed, accompanied by a punitive costs order.
He raised a number of technical objections to the application, including that the court does not have the jurisdiction to order Zuma to institute a commission if inquiry into the transformation of sport and rugby in particular, due to a separation of powers.
“The applicants have also not shown that they are acting in the public interest, rather than in their own interests for ulterior motives,” Hoskins said.
He accused the applicant of making vague and generalised allegations of lack of transformation, made in “complete ignorance of the facts”.
Hoskins gave a detailed outline of how the sporting bodies went about tackling transformation in rugby and said following the formulation in 1992 of a single body to govern rugby, Saru and its predecessors faced an ongoing challenge to make the game fully representative at all levels.
Saru attempted to transform the game by launching several programmes designed to promote the development of black and coloured players from previously disadvantaged areas. Hoskins said a sports and recreation indaba was held in 2011 where guidelines were set down by government to transform all sport.
“Transformation is a priority and it is our moral obligation to ensure that Saru plays its role in the development and empowerment of all South Africans.”
Turning to Mokhoanatse’s gripes about the Springbok emblem “which represents apartheid South Africa and should be replaced with the protea”, Hoskins said the King Protea is in fact the national rugby team’s emblem.
“In 2008 the King Protea replaced the Leaping Springbok logo as the national South African symbol for sport on the rugby jersey.” The Springbok only remained as the rugby brand and this was done for sound branding reasons. He said the goodwill attached to the Springbok logo and its trade mark are assets of considerable value.
Hoskins said Saru is, however, committed to and fully accepts the King Protea as the national sports symbol for all codes, including rugby.
Mokhoanatse, in his application to transform rugby, said it still represents the white minority and that government dismally failed in its promises to transform the sport.
“ The Springbok emblem and name must also disappear in the dustbin of history, alongside other apartheid and colonial symbols,” he said in his application. - Pretoria News