A 24-year-old rugby player, who has been representing the province for over ten years, this morning said that he still had not recovered from an incident in which he was called ‘a monkey’ on the rugby field on Saturday.
Speaking to the Northglen News, Sihle Mkhonza said he was not only humiliated by the incident but felt ‘stripped of his dignity’ after the incident, which ended in a fight.
Mkhonza, who is currently studying towards a BCom Degree in Marketing, has not only opened a case of crimen injuria at the Durban North Police Station but has taken his matter to Durban’s Equality Court.
The former Northwood School pupil, who was also the first black headboy at the upmarket school, said he was called ‘a monkey’ twice on the day. The game, according to Mkhonza, was the Fidelity Moor Cup first team clash between the Tigers and SA Home Loans Durban Collegians.
He said the good-spirited game was spoiled in the first half during a scrum when he, as hooker for the VC team, was allegedly called ‘a monkey’ by a player (whose name is known to the Northglen News) on the opposing team.
“It was halfway through the first half and we were in a scrum, which collapsed. As the player was getting up, he called me ‘a monkey’ and spat at me. He was smiling smugly. I was shocked, and looked at the referee, hoping for some sort of reaction. There was none. Even his black teammates were silent when he said it.”
But it did not end there, said Mkhonza: “In the second incident, we were shaking hands after the game when he mumbled “You monkey.” It was at this point I reacted. I punched him and he fought back,” he said.
A fight broke out and members of both sides were called in to separate the two players.
“It felt like I was playing in a pre-democratic South Africa. It made me feel like less of a human. It stripped me of my dignity when he said it to me.”
The 24-year-old said he did not want the matter to lie dormant, and felt that, too often, incidents of racial abuse on the sports field were ‘swept under the rug’.
Odette Francesconi, managing director at Varsity College, said the institution was aware of the incident and had offered support to all players involved.
“The incident has been reported to the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union, and they have requested statements from the players, which may result in disciplinary action. Varsity College does not tolerate any type of racial abuse,” she said.
Pete Smith, CEO of the KZNRU, this afternoon also said the union was aware of the incident. “We are conducting an enquiry into the matter and a letter has been sent out to Durban Collegians and Varsity College regarding the matter,” he said. Smith could not confirm whether the accused player had been involved in other incidents of a racially motivated nature.
