Statement by Nyami Booi on Sports
20 November 2008
Yesterday the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation met with the CEO of the 2010 FIFA LOC, Danny Jordaan and representatives of host cities in, Ethekwini, Nelson Mandela, Mbombela and Manguang municipalities. The meeting was very productive and illustrated the tremendous progress made in preparing for the hosting of the Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup. Challenges were identified and is in the process of being addressed by the relevant government departments.
Unfortunately this good news has been ignored in an Afrikaans newspaper article that aims to deliberately distort and mislead sections of our communities. In the article written by a journalist that attended only part of the meeting, certain statements are attributed to ANC members on the committee.
At no stage were mention made that rugby supporters in general are criminals or that rugby must be banned from stadiums. In fact, ANC Members encouraged the new stadiums to become centres of integration for multi-purpose use by soccer and rugby. A call was also made for rugby administrators to deal decisively with individuals who engage in racist criminal acts at matches.
We will continue to highlight instances of racism where Black people are attacked and assaulted at rugby matches by racist thugs and where certain stadiums and facilities are not accessible for use by the majority of our people. The ANC study group rejects this malicious article with the contempt it deserves.
I thank you!
Nyami Booi
ANC Chief Whip
Tel: 021 403 3860
