Statements attributed to Springbok and Western Province forward Like Watson about the Springbok jersey and his Afrikaans team-mates will be fully investigated and if a breach is identified, Watson will face a disciplinary hearing, the SA Rugby Union (SARU) announced on Monday afternoon.
SARU said in a statement after discussions with Judge Lex Mpati, the chairman of the National Judicial Committee of the South African Rugby Union, a designated official has been appointed to investigate the alleged statements.
The official will be Durban attorney Dekker Govender. “He has been tasked with investigating the allegations and weighing the evidence to determine if they merit a breach of the South African Rugby Union code of conduct.”
The statement follows an emergency meeting on Monday morning to discuss newspaper reports that Watson referred to his Afrikaans team-mates as “Dutchmen” and that he wanted to vomit on his Springbok jersey.
Meanwhile the reported statements have caused considerable uproar from political parties and civil organisations.
The FF Plus demanded that SARU take and ensure that Watson “never plays rugby for South Africa and the Springbok team again”.
“How far Luke Watson has gotten stuck in the past is seen from the fact that he wants to vomit on the Springbok jersey which former president Mandela had already worn in 1995 as a gesture of reconciliation.
“There isn’t any difference between Luke Watson’s snide comments and insulting comments made against the Afrikaners (Dutchmen) and the snide and insulting remarks of the group on Facebook about Black people. Hopefully the media and the public’s reaction to both these situations would be equally disapproving,” said FF+ leader Pieter Mulder.
He said in the light of Watson’s disapproval to play for the Springboks, it is certainly logical to deduce that he did not keep the money which he had received from the Rugby Union following the Springbok matches in which he had participated but had donated it to development or similar good causes.
Watson is reportedly furious over the reports, and according to his father, anti-apartheid sportsman Cheeky Watson, they are seeking legal advice because the remarks were made during a private discussion and they had been quoted out of context.
SARU earlier said it was shocked about the statements and wanted to determine the accuracy of the reports. A meeting was held with Western Province, the player’s contracting union, and the University of Cape Town Rugby Club, where the statements were apparently made.
SA Rugby’s manager of national teams and acting managing director, Andy Marinos said that if the reports were accurate, it was a very serious matter.
“We can’t pre-judge the matter on the strength of media reports and we can make no definitive statement until we have in our hands what evidence there may be.
The Afrikaans newspaper Rapport said on Sunday that Watson had said he’d wanted to vomit on his Springbok jersey. Last week parliament’s portfolio committee chairman for sport, Butana Komphela, said at a sports indaba in Durban that the Springbok’s days are numbered. He called on the sports ministry to cull the Bok as soon as possible.
The civil rights initiative targeting the preserve of Afriaans, Afriforum, responded by sending legal letters to both Watson and Komphela.
The CEO of Afriforum, Kallie Kriel, said in the letter they demanded that Watson withdrew his statement that the problem with SA rugby was “that it is controlled by Dutchmen”.
Afriforum said that if Watson refused to withdraw his statement, it intended having him summoned to the Equality Court on charges of hate speech.
Watson’s statements were reportedly made when he was a guest speaker at the Umbumbo Rugby Festival at the University of Cape Town on October 3 this year.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) president Bantu Holomisa said on Monday
Khompela’s sentiments do not reflection what the sport portfolio committee discussed.
“The Springboks must prepare for their upcoming tour and not concern themselves with this opportunistic noise by Khompela. The UDM has full confidence in the current leadership of SA rugby; it is this leadership – under coach De Villiers, that has given us the current team where transformation and class aren’t mutually exclusive objectives.
“If the Springbok is a symbol of oppression we should be asking why the ANC is applying selective amnesia about apartheid era symbols. How else can we explain the decision for the new democratic Parliament to use the apartheid era’s parliamentary premises? Or for that matter the three ANC-appointed Presidents of the country installing themselves in the Union Buildings – the ultimate symbol of apartheid’s power and oppression? This demonstrates that we should and can take ownership of symbols. The Springbok belongs to all of us – as was clearly demonstrated by the widespread support during and after last year’s
Rugby World Cup victory,” Holomisa said.
