I am a relatively calm person. I don`t get overly upset about too many things. It takes quite a bit to get me really worked up.At this moment, I am really worked up. The reason? The poor Springbok is once again under fire. Will this ever end? We have a few idiots in government who are doing their utmost to get rid of the one thing they know white people hold very dear in this country. The Springbok has been the emblem of our national rugby side for more than a 100 years and is the only emblem to have remained intact after unification. Mainly due to Nelson Mandela`s influence. However, with Madiba on a well deserved retirement a few of the government officials have taken it upon themselves to get rid of the Springbok and to replace it with the Protea (which is used by the other sporting codes as the official emblem).
The only problem is that the Springbok is the lone world class side left in this country. The national soccer side has fallen from number 15 in the world to 83. Our Olympic squad brought home a grand total of ONE medal, a silver one in the men's long jump. We don't have a tennis player in the top 100! Our sport is a mess and it is purely because of government intervention.
So now, they want to change the emblem of the Springbok, the current world champions. The funny thing is that the gravy train riding government ministers who all wore their Springbok jerseys happily last year in France when we were crowned world champions, are now rooting for the emblem to be scrapped. Strange, if it was an issue then surely they wouldn`t have accepted the jerseys presented to them by the team last year, not to mention WEAR them at the final! It is a joke, a complete joke.
Things like this make me very unhappy in South Africa. Instead of focusing on the poor Olympic performance, they focus on stripping a team of it`s identity? Maybe it`s shifting the focus from their own incompetencies.
The fact is that the Springbok is not the white mans. Brian Habana is a Springbok and a hero to millions of South Africans. Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira is one of our favourite players in this country and a proud Springbok. Chester Williams, Ricky January, Bolla Conradie, Conrad Jantjes, JP Pietersen, Adi Jacobs, Jongi Nokwe to name but a few, are all players of colour who would die for the Springbok. Did anybody from government ask their opinions? Guess not, cos it`s only governments opinion that counts.
The ironic thing is that no other sport has done more to unify the country. Winning world cups in 1995 and 2007 was indescribable and showed just how we can all be one. Seeing black and white celebrate in the streets after the 1995 victory is something that I`ll never forget. Then there was no black and white, only South Africans. The same happened in 2007, one country, one nation.
This is a complex country and I am as liberal as the next guy but please, hurting us for the sake of payback? That`s not what a government in a true democracy would do and not what the great Nelson Mandela envisioned.
4 comments:
Yeah, this is one of those things you look at and wonder where priority lies, and when enough will be enough. The Springbok is an emblem for this country's pride and presence in sport, and it will be a real pity to see something almost all of us, sport-loving South Africans or not will be sad to see leave our repertoire of national jewels. It's so frustrating seeing what becomes the focus of government when our country well needs attention in other areas.
From your lips to God`s ears nessie.
Like I said it looks like they are trying to shift the attention away from the real issues. I mean we all support bafana but what is going on there? We have a world cup to host in less than 2 years and our side is ranked outside the top 80 in the world. Now that is what that idiot Butana Komphela should be worrying about, not about the emblem of a world champion side.
On a more positive note the ANC came out in support of the Springbok this afternoon, so all is not lost! Yay!!
Oh yeah, good luck for your Sharks tomorrow, I`ll be supporting them for the rest of this season since my WP side has seen it`s behind and are out of the playoffs, again...
Ha ha > yeah, it's gonna be smack-in-the-foreheads all around when 2010 gets here and our soccer team is MIA and all we get is a line-up of 'Haibo What Happened' faces.
In moments like these, I say,
Eish.
But the ANC backing sounds like good news.
As for the rest - I'll pretend I know what you're talking about :D
Okay, kidding, I'm not that bad. I'll keep an eye on the Sharks since you're supporting them. Beast comes to our church when he's here, so our church gets behind the Sharks too. Heh heh.
"haibo what happened" faces!!! LOL!!!
AND if you ever get a one on one with Beast, tell him I love him... Ok not like that but as a player.
On second thought just tell him I say hi.
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