Andre Nel and Gert van Schalkwyk: A selection farce

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. For months now I have been hammering South African selectors who even dared to breathe the word “quota”, yet Andre Nel, a South African who would die for the cause, is being axed due to racism — and if those selectors are misguided, how about the geniuses who selected Gert van Schalkwyk, a convicted murderer, to play for the Pumas?

Let’s start with Nel. Team manager Logan Naidoo has confirmed that Nel lost his place due to the colour of his skin. The team was being selected in accordance with transformation targets.

Get over yourselves, guys. “Transformation targets” is double-speak for unnecessary racism. Racism in sport is the great disunifier; when whites are not selected in soccer, there is no outcry because whites would rather see the best 11, be they black or otherwise, rather than token players in the side.

What makes this worse is that tokenism allows the administrators to pocket the money that should be finding its way to the grassroots because they can point to transformation via tokenism.

Andre Nel is a new South African who is ready to die for the cause of the multiracial democracy created in 1994. The selectors have ignored that and gone with racism best suited to the old South Africa, to their eternal shame.

Speaking of which, the selectors at the Pumas should be called to account for their disgraceful conduct in selecting Gert van Schalkwyk.

Not only is the man a convicted murderer, but the crime he was convicted of is also a disgrace in itself. Far from being some heroic act, this monster — along with three other thugs — was convicted of beating a homeless man to death.

I’m trying to work out who needs help more: the morons who selected him or the idiots who cheer him on … a celebration of insanity?

I’m sorry if I don’t share your delight in thumbing my nose at authority, guys; you really have dragged rugby down into the gutter.

The selectors should do us all a favour and resign. Those who know better should explain to the fans that telling reporters that your parents taught you to behave like animals reflects very poorly on your family.

Does your mommy know where you are?