It’s happening again! They’re fighting to get rid of the Springbok emblem. This, on the first of a two-day “National Sports Indaba” held in Deben. My God, they are a tiresome lot.

Hello bokkie!

This, load of crap, from iol.co.za:

Rugby’s corporate sponsors and its hallowed symbol the Springbok came under fire from delegates on the first day of a two-day National Sports Indaba held in Durban on Thursday.

Sports Portfolio Committee chairman Butana Komphela told delegates: “The Springbok divides us. We have a responsibility to unite our country on one national emblem.

“Minister, I want you to observe the arrogance of white people on the Springbok emblem,” he said. [HUH? – Seth]

Komphela said that there could be “no negotiation” on the Springbok emblem.

When the floor was opened to the delegates, many speakers called for a resolution removing the Springbok emblem to be passed as soon as possible.

However, Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile said: “My view is that emblems are not matters of life and death.”

He said there should be one national emblem which all sporting codes would endorse.

Komphela added that the Sharks rugby franchise’s failure to wear “Say no to racism” on their jerseys was nothing but “rampant racism” on the part of manufacturer Mr Price.

“Dealing with the legacy of apartheid cannot be dealt with by market forces,” he said.

SA Rugby Union (SARU) chief executive Johan Prinsloo said he could not participate in the debate on the emblem as he had not been authorised to do so and the Springbok emblem had not originally been on the agenda of the Indaba.

According to the sports ministry the main purpose of the indaba, among others, is to develop an integrated national strategy in order to accelerate the implementation of the national sports development agenda.

[click here for more, if you have the strength]

If you push yourself to read further you will note that the Olympic Games (and the fact that we only one a single medal (silver)) was raised, VERY BRIEFLY at the Indaba.

Surely the funding and running of that kind of development should be the headline story? But no, the people we have running this kind of shit have their own personal uneducated agenda.

The Springbok emblem made it through 1994, when South Africa came through the dark years of apartheid. It was then zoomed in on, for the World to see, in 1995 when we won our first Rugby World Cup and our nation was united for the first time.

Then we won ANOTHER one last year, OVER A DECADE since Nelson Mandela walked out of prison. This emblem has stood the test of time.

The fact that it is tainted and the fact that it has been battered around, for better or for worse, makes the Springbok emblem so fucking cool, that one can fully understand why they are trying to get rid of it. Because the people in charge are so fucking UNCOOL, they wouldn’t know tradition and history and real brand creation if it spat them in the face.

What is so wrong with a symbol that has seen it all? A symbol that shows we can move forward. It doesn’t matter that it is different to the other South African sporting emblems. It IS different. It is the sport that brought us together.

If you take away the Springbok emblem, you take away everything.

Buffoons.