De Kock’s exit: Bending rule or not?

Quinton de Kock’s decision to withdraw from the Proteas team playing in a crucial T20 World Cup match in Dubai rather than obey a directive from the Cricket South Africa (CSA) board that all players must take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) initiative had South African cricket in shock on Monday.

But the Proteas managed to regain their focus in time to beat the West Indies in impressive fashion on Monday and stay in contention for the semi-finals.

Whether De Kock will play any further part in the tournament now depends on what the CSA board make of whatever report is sent to them by team management.

While issuing an edict on the morning of a crucial match, when the topic of how the Proteas should show their support for BLM has been in the public discourse for more than a year now, was incredibly poor management by CSA.

In the inflammatory environment of South African cricket, De Kock’s refusal to support BLM has caused outrage. But former Highveld Lions coach Geoff Toyana, who has a close bond with the 28 year old, having mentored him in his formative years, said he is sure De Kock is not a racist.

“Quinny was brought up by black coaches, there’s no way he is a racist. But to pull out of the team, at a World Cup, I just don’t know what was in his mind,” Toyana said on Monday.

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma was also in a more forgiving mood after his team won, although he stressed De Kock will have to live with the consequences of his decision.

“The team heard about the directive in the morning when we were on the bus to Dubai,” Bavuma said. “It’s about a two-hour trip and I guess Quinny made his decision then, because I only found out he was not playing when we got in the change room.

“As a team we did not have a great deal of time to discuss things, we just had to digest what we were told.

“South Africa is governed by a constitution that allows guys to express their choices.

“But as much as there is freedom of choice, you can’t escape the consequences of those decisions. But he is still one of the boys and whatever shoulder or support he needs, we are there for him,” Bavuma said.

While the CSA board directive came out of the blue given how long they have prevaricated over the BLM issue, Bavuma said the Proteas team had made peace with the fact that there are different views within the team.

“We live in a country with diverse views, the things we support are based on our own convictions and we live different lives. I’ve learnt to appreciate that a lot more.

“It has widened my perspective and I don’t expect people to see things the way I do. Which is why we have had the hard conversations, it’s through those that we learn to accept other people’s actions,” Bavuma said.

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What AfriForum said

• AfriForum has also condemned the “bending the knee”decision of Cricket South Africa.
• The decision was an “ultra-vires abuse of authority” said Ronald Peters, AfriForum’s manager of sport.
• “The decision will certainly not pass constitutional muster if challenged by a court of law as it violates a whole host of rights protected in the Constitution,” Peters said in a statement.
• “These violated rights include the right to equality and the right to not be unfairly discriminated against, freedom and security of the person, freedom of religion, belief and opinion, freedom of expression, freedom of association and the right to make political choices.”