South Africa's national cricket team rocked by Black Lives Matter symbol
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South African cricket has been plunged into a crisis after star batsman Quinton de Kock refused to take a knee ahead of a World Cup clash against the West Indies in Dubai on Tuesday.
The controversy was sparked on Monday when Cricket South Africa chairperson Lawson Naidoo informed the squad that they would be required to adopt the now-globally recognised Black Lives Matter symbol.
Former captain De Kock subsequently withdrew from the squad while the rest of the players complied with the order. De Kock who is still with the team, has refused to provide reasons for defying the instruction.
The organisation, AfriForum, said Cricket South Africa’s instruction “will certainly not pass Constitutional muster if challenged by a court of law as it violates a whole host of rights protected in the Constitution”.
It said these violated rights include the right to equality and the right to not be unfairly discriminated against.
It noted that many top athletes from many different cultural, national and racial backgrounds have expressed their reasons for refusing to take the knee.
“More recently, many who took the knee initially have decided to stop doing so. Many have argued that the gesture is no longer powerful because everyone does it, yet actual change is slow to occur, or nothing changes at all. AfriForum agrees that a gesture loses all merit and meaning when it is forced on people,” said AfriForum spokesperson Carina Bester.
-0- PANA CU/MA 27Oct2021
