I have found myself getting increasingly angry over the past few days listening to the debate raging over Caster Semenya.
It has taken a nasty, racist turn — cleverly clouding the real issues surrounding Caster: that Athletics South Africa (ASA) should have tested her before she left, that they have proven to not understand the issues, highlighting shameful incompetence.
Instead we have a situation where a young woman is being used, and the real issues are being clouded by political posturing and finger-pointing.
The only people coming out of this with any degree of dignity is the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), who protected her from a press conference and have kept what I imagine is a difficult silence against the wild accusations from the ASA.
This morning it is rumoured that Jacob Zuma himself is at the airport to welcome South Africa’s golden girl. As is the ANC Women’s League, the youth league and a host of welcoming parties.
Because this is what it has become — the ASA’s stance has ensured that the story of Caster has become a wonderful platform to bluster on about the Europeans, racism and white colonialism.
It has become politically fashionable to comment:
Our deputy president, Kgalema Motlanthe (remember him?), waded in on the weekend saying “intolerance has become the norm”.
Our minister of home affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has asked women to rally around Caster and “reject with contempt” insinuations made about her gender.
Youth league leader Julius Malema’s quotes as ever, would be funny if they weren’t so harmful: “The International Amateur Athletic Federation decision to test Semenya is racist and sexist and we must not allow them to do it.”
But the worst comments come from Leonard Chuene, president of ASA. The man who should be in control of the situation, who should be managing national and international relations and pro-actively handling communications — has come through as an idiot, at sea and incapable of understanding the complexities of athletics at an international level.
In The Times he is quoted directly as saying:
“There is absolutely no way you can go and test whether a child is a boy or a girl. If you do that you are saying the parents of that child are lying when they say, ‘unto us has been given a girl’. There is no way we would think this child has a problem.”
“Who are white people to question the make-up of an African girl? It is racism.”
“It is outrageous for people from other countries to tell us ‘we want to take her to a laboratory because we don’t like her nose, or her figure.’ ”
“I say this is racism, pure and simple.”
This wild rhetoric from the president of the organisation appointed to protect and develop athletes is deeply shameful. It shows that the ASA has NO understanding of what is involved in gender testing. That they’re not familiar with the rules of international competitions or the concept of unfair advantage (which is ultimately what this is about). That what they consider as their responsibility to their athletes is childish and shallow. That there is very poor understanding of what the federation is supposed to do, how it should do it or why.
Instead the story of Caster has become one of opportunism for politicians, and for the ASA, to boost the ego of individuals, through posturing and interviews.
In all of this is Caster, a young girl from Limpopo whose eligibility to compete on the international stage should have been verified before she left. She has shaved 25 seconds off her time in just a few months — a phenomenal achievement, and one which guarantees that questions will be asked. Requests for tests were apparently ignored by the ASA.
The ASA is wholly to blame. For not understanding the rules of their sport. For not understanding their mandate. For not anticipating this issue. For not vetting their athletes eligibility to compete on the international stage. For then popularising the issue and taking such a grandstanding stance. For shamefully acting, and taking cheap potshots at international athletics.
Ironically, in all this mess, the ASA will probably come out smelling of roses. They have the support of politicians. The IAAF is diplomatically not counteracting accusations. And Chuene is so insistent that he is both saviour and protector, people may actually believe it.
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