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Cape Town - AfriForum Youth has directed a letter to SA Rugby in which they requested the governing body not to accede to the proposed name change of the Craven Week schools rugby tournament.
In the letter, the youth organisation also requested a meeting with Mark Alexander, president of SA Rugby.
This request follows after a group of former rugby players requested SA Rugby to change the name of the Craven Week.
"It is ironic that the players form part of the old non-racial SARU, but refuse to give an opinion upon the current quota system in rugby. The group is unhappy because in those days race deprived them of certain opportunities, but by no means do they refer to the current discrimination. Their action shouts double standards," says Henk Maree, head of AfriForum Youth.
AfriForum Youth's letter to the SA Rugby president reads as follows:
Dear Mr Alexander
AfriForum Youth takes notice of the recent articles stating that a group consisting of former South African Rugby Union (Saru) players have written to SA Rugby asking for the name change of the Craven Week.
AfriForum Youth would like to request that the name change does not take place seeing as Danie Craven did so much for the development of sport and specifically rugby in South Africa.
For example, Craven travelled to Harare in 1988 to meet with the leaders of the ANC to discuss the formation of a single rugby association that would field integrated teams for participation in foreign tournaments. This is widely regarded as the foundation of the later established South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu).
Craven also played a major role in the very first non-racial rugby competition held in 1964, known as the Craven Week.
From the before-mentioned facts it is clear that Danie Craven did too much for the development of rugby for all races in South Africa to merely degrade his legacy to one of an apartheid member.
With this letter we would also like to inform you that we have launched a campaign for members of the public to give us their mandate to request a meeting with yourself at a later stage, should the request to change the Craven Week's name be an actual consideration of Saru.
