Stephen Nell

Cape Town – The future of the Springbok emblem is expected to come up for discussion during the national sports indaba to be held in Durban on Thursday and Friday.

One school of thought is that there should be one emblem for all South African sports teams. Efforts to bring the issue to a point may be made during the meeting.

The SA Rugby Union will be represented by a heavyweight delegation, including the chief executive, Johan Prinsloo, the deputy president, Mark Alexander, and transformation consultant Mveleli Ncula.

Prinsloo said on Wednesday he was not aware that the Springbok emblem would be discussed.

“We have been invited to listen and we will take part if it is necessary. There are many things on the agenda. We’ll see what the issues are to be discussed,” he said, adding, “The Springbok is our commercial emblem. “

No doubt exists that rugby will resist all efforts to scrap the Springbok emblem.

The conference will cover a variety of issues, including South Africa’s performance at the Beijing Olympics and the future of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc).

Worth millions of rands

However, rugby could come under attack. The reluctance of some unions to let players wear the “No to Racism” slogan on their jerseys during a recent campaign is likely to be raised.

The Sharks, who were unable, for commercial reasons, to replace their sponsor’s name with the slogan, made it clear nevertheless that they supported the campaign.

The Springbok emblem is, from a commercial point of view, worth millions of rands. Rugby supporters also have a tradition of emotional attachment to the emblem.

However, the emblem is seen in some circles as carrying “negative baggage”.

It is expected that a transformation committee will be formed soon. The members will report to the minister of sport and recreation and will keep an eye on transformation in all sports.

The indaba has been organised by the ministry of sport and recreation. Among the guest speakers are sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile, Sascoc president Moss Mashishi and Butana Komphela, chair of the parliamentary sports portfolio committee.

Another is Viwe Qegu, one of the two women who were co-opted to Saru’s president’s council last year. The other one was Mandisa Kalako-Williams. Their term expired at the start of this year.

Qegu will speak about “monitoring and evaluation of transformation and development”.