Stofile: 'I don't understand Div'
Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:31
Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile. (c) Gallo
The South African Rugby Union has closed ranks around under-fire coach Peter de Villiers, following an attack from Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile on the national team's mentor.
The Sports Minister, Stofile, criticised De Villiers's latest controversial statement - when the Bok coach said the national team supports murder accused Bees Roux '100 percent'.
"Even I don't always understand what he says," Stofile said, according to a report on sport24.
"Goodness man! Get yourself a spokesperson!," the minister added.
This attack follows a media conference in Bloemfontein last week, at which De Villiers again drifted off rugby issues and away from the brief on how he should conduct himself at media conferences.
In Bloemfontein De Villiers said: "We definitely talked about Bees Roux. We feel for all South Africans and especially players. A situation like this could happen to anybody. People are ugly outside, they're dirty and they try and use everything to stop us from bringing hope to the people out there. It's a tragic situation and we don't wish it upon anybody. The team supports him 100 percent. Maybe not on the deed, but ... how the situation developed."
Springbok media liaison officer Anthony Mackaiser declined to comment on Stofile's outburst on Wednesday, while Andy Colquhoun (the Communications Manager at SARU) referred rugby365.com to a statement issued on Sunday, about the matter.
"We stand by what we said on Sunday," Colquhoun said.
In a statement at the weekend SARU said the annual review of the Springboks' performance in the Tri-Nations will be scheduled "as per normal" with the Bok coach, De Villiers, for later this month.
SARU President Oregan Hoskins also said that there would be "formal discussions" with the coach about some of his reported comments.
Hoskins added that he had written to the family of Johannes Mogale, to express the union's support and condolences at this time of mourning.
"SARU will make no further comment until the review process is complete," the statement concluded.
It has once again become blatantly clear that the Bok coach, who often stated that he wants to be his own man, tends to drift off from rugby issues and away from his brief about his conduct at media conferences.
The other issue is that there is no national team manager at present, after Arthob Petersen walked out on the job at the end of 2009.
In the past the team manager used to go to media conference to address off-field issues, while the coach was briefed to speak only on rugby (or on-field) issues.
It is thus not surprising that the Sports Minister, Stofile, has felt the need to criticise De Villiers, who has landed in hot water in the past for his often incomprehensible ramblings at media conferences.
Stofile was asked for comment on De Villiers' statement that the Springboks were 100 percent behind Roux, the Blue Bulls player arrested for allegedly beating a metro police officer to death.
Stofile said: "It's disgraceful to say that you support someone 100 percent when he possibly took another person's life in such a brutal manner. If this was the old South Africa, he would have been charged as an accomplice for that kind of statement."
The sports minister said he wanted the SARU to say how it was going to act against De Villiers.
"The entire organisation's name is being dragged through the mud. It's unacceptable," Stofile told sport24.
Stofile said that he had advised De Villiers at the time of his appointment to get a spokesperson.
"I repeat that request today. With the kind of questions the media asks, I said that he would be sorry about something he said one day. You need special skills when talking to the media. And Peter is a man who loves to talk.
"Today we are embarrassed and angry about what he said. You can't be delighted when someone is killed. Peter, please don't expose yourself to the media like that.
"I agree totally that he should speak Afrikaans if he's not comfortable in English. English is also not my first language and I also struggle with it at times. We think in our mother tongue and then have to verbalise the thought in English. And Peter talks very quickly."
By Jan de Koning