I WAS shocked to learn that the speaker of the Sakhisizwe municipal council, N Mananga, ejected DA councillor Murray Andrews, brother of the 1995 World Cup hero Mark Andrews, from a sitting of council on Friday for wearing his Springbok rugby jersey in support of Rugby World Cup Fridays (September 12).
The DA respects and supports the dress codes contained within the various councils’ standing rules of order, but also supports the calls of support for the “Bokke” as given by our national Sports Minister, Fikile Mbalula. We did the same with our soccer jerseys during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
I’m sure that all South Africans remember the undeniable feeling of unity and pride when Madiba raised the 1995 Rugby World Cup, with another taste of that when we won again in 2007 and when Siphiwe Tshabalala scored that first goal in the 2010 Soccer World Cup. These are significant events that engender national pride and promote nation building. In ejecting Andrews the speaker effectively prevented him from fulfilling his public service roll because Andrews had demonstrated his patriotism.
I strongly urge the speakers of all councils to support unity building initiatives such as this. — John Cupido, MPL, Chris Hani District
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