Let probe precede judgment in Ashwin Willemse saga

Well, at least we can now concentrate on the rugby, rather than wondering which commentator might end up with a red card from SuperSport. Ashwin Willemse, Nick Mallett and Naas Botha will not be appearing before the cameras today.

SuperSport said it has appointed a senior legal counsel, Advocate Vincent Maleka, to probe what was really behind the on-air walk-out last weekend by Willemse.

The TV channel said the issues between the three men had not been resolved, which indicates there is a serious problem.

We believe SuperSport did the right thing by not jumping to conclusions that the spat between the three was motivated solely by race and not by other considerations.

Many people – most divided along race lines – have already reached their conclusions, despite the lack of evidence about what really happened.

Among them was Sports Minister Tokozile Xasa, who immediately sided with Willemse, who had implied he was being undermined by the other two because they viewed him, as many did during his playing days, as a “quota player”.

If race is indeed the problem here, then let that come out and strong action be taken.

But we need an unbiased investigation before we can make that judgment.

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