As I sit in my leafy suburb of Bethesda, Maryland watching Pommie Mbangwa have an Instagram conversation with Ashwell Prince, I am totally captivated for almost two hours. I find myself temporarily in the US for a work assignment amid the movement for racial equality and social justice, the fight against police brutality and the youth-led Black Lives Matters campaign.

Over the past four years in America, I have been left speechless at times at the lack of progress in this country on the very same issues that South Africa is grappling with. The Black Lives Matter movement has impacted countries around the world – and South Africa is no different.

Over the past few months, many sporting codes have grappled with how to support the movement and how to support their athletes in a thoughtful, meaningful and impactful manner. In the international cricket world, the England versus West Indies test series was the first opportunity to see how cricket responds. The great Michael Holding and Nasser Hussain set the tone with some of the most insightful commentary on the matter I have ever seen during the coverage of a cricket match.

Then, the picture of both the West Indies and England teams together with the match officials, kneeling, sent a powerful message that this series and all involved were serious and very aware of what is happening in the world presently. The first Test match in this Covid-19 world became more than just a return to cricket, but contributed to the debate currently gripping the world.

Race, sport and politics have always been a toxic cocktail in South Africa and when Lungi Ngidi spoke up in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, the toxicity came to the fore. Former players, that many are always calling for to be involved as mentors, attacked this young man publicly and tried to impose their views, silence his voice, and take away from the issue he was aiming to address. 

Players like Boeta Dippenaar and Pat Symcox showed a lack of understanding of the state of the world currently and a deep lack of insight about the Black Lives Matter campaign. They also, having been part of the cricket system in South Africa for many years, seemed to bury their heads in the sand like ostriches by not recognising the struggles faced by cricket players of colour in South Africa. 

Cricket, race and politics in South Africa have for so long been equated to the quota system. And herein lies one of the major flaws in how the debate about transformation in sport in South Africa is handled.

Ashwell Prince eloquently and with raw emotion, by taking us through his personal experience, highlighted that the matter is much more complicated. If the transformation agenda in South African sport is not driven by a meaningful understanding of what the obstacles are that hinder the success of South African sportspeople of colour, it is doomed to fail and will continue to be a divisive topic.

In the National Basketball Association (NBA), players like Kyle Korver have come out and recognised that white privilege exists and the Black Lives Matters movement is important. Would we have a white player in South Africa stand up with Lungi Ngidi and throw their weight behind the cause?

What I took away from the Prince interview was the lack of celebration that we, as people of colour in South Africa, have for the achievements of the likes of Prince. Black excellence by sportsmen and sportswomen need to be celebrated. In cricketing terms, we need to start by learning about the history of sport during apartheid. If we do not celebrate our successes, no one else is going to celebrate it for us.

During the lockdown period, social media was flooded by tweets calling for Best XIs and lists of Top Five bowlers post-isolation. Not many of the replies had Makhaya Ntini making those lists, despite his record-breaking exploits during his career. This, of course, is not any scientific method of measurement, but it does point to how much harder a black sportsperson must work to get recognition in South Africa.

I have seen many talented young coloured cricketers give up on their dreams in Cape Town because realistically, they could not afford to live off a junior contract. They could not afford to get to practices, support their family and concentrate fully on converting their talent in a career.

Where I come from in Retreat in the Western Cape, we do not do gap years and the opportunity to follow your dreams often takes a back seat to putting food on the table.

But when we see one of our own make it on the international stage, we need to be louder in our praise and admiration. I will continue to support Lungi Ngidi, I will continue to support Ashwell Prince and the success he has had as a player, and currently as a coach. I will continue to support the right of our sportsmen and women of colour to tell their story without fear.

What Pommie Mbangwa did during those two hours was listen. He refrained from asking “What do you think of XYZ?” and allowed Prince to express his views, and relate his experience to the audience. This needs to be done more.

We can all have our opinions, but we need to make a greater effort to mindfully listen and be present when we discuss issues. DM