Super 14 decision body blow for EC

THE rejection of the joint Eastern Cape/Border/South Western Districts bid for the fifth South African Super 14 franchise next year is a severe body blow to rugby in this part of the world. For far too long this region has been regarded as the poor relation of the sport and this was the ideal opportunity for the South African Rugby Union to change this unfair perception.

Sadly, Saru at its conference in Durban yesterday, chose to take the weak-kneed option by separating the three eastern coastal unions which had jointly put in a far-sighted bid for the lucrative place in the expanded Super 14 competition.

Their linking of Eastern Province with the Bulls, Border with the Sharks and SWD with the Stormers is meaningless and, as before, these smaller unions will slowly be edged out and the status quo will remain. Why on earth would the Bulls want to come and play in Port Elizabeth – 1 000 kilometres from their support base? It did not work when EP and Border were linked with the Sharks and this revised system will not work either.

In giving the franchise to the Central Unions, comprising Free State, Griquas and the Griffons, Saru has turned its back on this region for reasons only they will know.

We suspect the final decision was made for reasons not entirely related to rugby and that past favours were remembered and rewarded. It is perhaps more than a co-incidence that Saru vice-president Andre Maakgraaff has been a loyal Griquas man at both administration and coaching level.

While there had been high hopes that the Super 14 would truly come to the Eastern Cape, the writing was apparently on the wall earlier in the week. There were simply too many rumours to the effect that the decision had already been made and that Central Unions had been the preferred franchise option, for it not to be true. The rest of the process, including yesterday’s conference, was merely a charade.

In rejecting the coastal bid, Saru has opened itself up to allegations that it is not truly committed to transformation in the sport. And who can argue with this bearing in mind that this region has more black players than any other and that the three unions making up the coastal bid have traditionally been the breeding ground for black and coloured rugby stars.

While disappointed at this decision we also feel that the shambolic administration of EP senior rugby will have also played a part in the bid going to Central Unions. No one trusts or has any respect for EP rugby anymore thanks to administrative bungling, and who can argue with that perception?

But this was not only an EP bid. Border and SWD – both soundly run unions – would have been able to ensure that the joint franchise was properly administered. All in all, a sad day for rugby in the Eastern Cape.

Zim must own future

There will be few, if any, who will disagree with President Thabo Mbeki’s position on the outcome of the Zimbabwe election, because it makes a lot of sense. Mbeki said this week that the government would accept final reports on the Zim elections – due out soon – regardless of whether or not they found the poll to have been free and fair.

At the end of the day Zimbabweans must decide their own fate and others, including South Africa, should work along with them on their chosen path.

Mbeki’s stance is not inconsistent with our government’s commitment to “quiet diplomacy” in dealing with the Zimbawean situation. This has been supported generally by the US, Britain and African states.

As he reiterated on Thursday, South Africa is insisting that the solution to challenges facing Zimbabwe lies in the hands of the Zimbabweans themselves.

It is up to the Zimbaweans to work out solutions to their problems. Let’s hope, though, that they will heed the counsel Mbeki will surely offer.

Opinion