- Last week, the reaction to Lungi Ngidi’s support of Black Lives Matters (BLM) caused a divide in cricket in South Africa.
- The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) believes cricket in the country needs to re-evaluate its role in systemic racism in the sport.
- SACA has put its support behind the BLM movement.
South African cricket is need of an introspection, where it re-evaluates its role in the systemic racism that exists within the sport.
This is the view of Andrew Breetzke, CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA).
It has been an emotionally testing few days for many involved in South African cricket.
Lungi Ngidi last week voiced his support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which has gathered momentum globally since the tragic and senseless killing of American George Floyd on 25 May.
The world then pulled together in one passionate cry to end racism and discrimination.
The international sporting community, from the English Premier League to Formula One, has used its platforms to make a stand on the issue and to promote the same message of equality.
It, therefore, came as no surprise when the comments of former Proteas Pat Symcox, Boeta Dippenaar and Rudi Steyn, who questioned Ngidi’s stance, were heavily criticised in what has become a national outcry.
Ashwell Prince and Alviro Petersen have since been vocal in highlighting the issue of racism within the game while, on Tuesday, a group of 31 former players – 30 of them Proteas – released a joint-statement to present a united front against the comments of Dippenaar, Symcox and Steyn.
They also challenged Cricket South Africa (CSA) to play its part in addressing the issue.
CSA’s acting CEO Jacques Faul has acknowledged the statement and has encouraged other players to speak up about their experiences, while he also conceded that cricket, as a whole, needs to learn from this and ensure that such feelings of exclusion do not happen in the future.
It is expected that, in the days and weeks to come, more members of the South African cricket community will share their stories.
In terms of following process, SACA, in the player contract under its Memorandum of Understanding with CSA, has a provision for any player to launch a formal grievance.
In an interview with Sport24 on Wednesday, Breetzke acknowledged that most internal issues in South African cricket are resolved before they reach that stage.
He accepts, however, that the issue of discrimination in South African cricket is something that needs to be revisited, both at a SACA and CSA level.
“The battle of hearts and minds is still very much alive when it comes to this issue,” he said.
“SACA has life skills programmes that deal directly with diversity in teams and we need to revisit that.
“We have systems in place that have dealt with issues where players feel they have been unfairly treated in the past, and that still stands, but we need to look at them again.
“We are, and have always been, there to take up issues for players.”
Breetzke added that SACA and CSA had a responsibility to put systems in place that could assist players coming forward and that they needed to facilitate an environment where players feel comfortable.
“In any given season, there are a number of issues that are raised. The system does work,” he said.
“What has come to the fore in the last two weeks, though, is the unconscious biases that exist and that requires some work from everybody.
“We’re pleased that players are speaking up about things that have impacted their careers in the past. We have to welcome that. We have to have those discussions.
“That’s how we look at this and it’s incumbent on all stakeholders to look within.”
SACA had previously voiced its support for the BLM movement and the fight against systemic racism.
