Butana Komphela, chairman of the parliamentary sports committee, yesterday called for the scrapping of the Springbok emblem.

He told a sports indaba in Durban that it was a symbol of white arrogance. He said that there could be “no negotiation” on the Springbok, which is only a rugby badge. Many of the speakers who followed Komphela urged that the resolution should be passed as soon as possible. However, the Minister of Sport, Makhenkesi Stofile, who also spoke at the meeting, said the Bok emblem was “not a matter of life and death”. He said there should be one national emblem that all sporting codes would endorse. Komphela also criticised the Sharks rugby team and their sponsors for not forsaking the Mr Price logos on the team’s jerseys for anti-racism slogans. Komphela said this was nothing but “rampant racism” on the part of the sponsor. Earlier, SA Olympic chief Moss Mashishi said the poor showing in Beijing needed to be examined without “stones being thrown”.

Sapa

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