Embarrassed to call myself South African: Kallis

Embarrassed to call myself South African: Kallis

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By Arun S Kaimal, SportsCafe Editor

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Responding to the ban on Cricket SA from hosting major tournaments, Jacques Kallis has said that he is “embarrassed” to call himself a South African. The Cricket, rugby, netball and athletics unions of South Africa were banned by the Government after failure to increase the number of black players.

Expressing his displeasure at the South African sports minister Fikile Mbalula’s decision to ban the federations, Kallis posted on ttwitter that he is “embarrassed” to call himself a South African.

"So sad that i find myself embarrassed to call myself a South African so often these days #no place for politics in sport," Kallis posted in response to News24's report of Mbalula's actions.

South African pacer Dale Steyn and former South African opener and commentator Pat Symcox also joined in on the debate by expressing their views on Twitter. Steyn simply retweeted News24's report, while Symcox wondered how the swimming and golf federations escaped the ban.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) and four other federations – netball, rugby, football, athletics – had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the sports ministry last year. Although, the exact details of the report have not been made public, it is believed that the goal was to have 60% of the team comprised of players of colour, which includes black African, mixed-race and Indian players. Cricket South Africa managed 55% with Kagiso Rabada, Aaron Phangiso, Eddie Leie and Temba Bavuma featuring for the team since the end of the 2015 World Cup. The ban will be reviewed after the annual report in the 2016-17 cycle.  

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