Mental health cited as reason for Springbok winger’s brief disappearance
Sbu Nkosi decided to flee to the safety of his family's house in eMalahleni after things had become too much for him. He was located there on December 5.
With Springbok winger and Barberton local Sbu Nkosi having been located unharmed in the safety of his father’s eMalahleni house on December 5, the Bulls’ CEO, Edgar Rathbone, called for the public to remember that “rugby players are not robots or machines, but ordinary people of flesh and blood.”
Rathbone was addressing the media at a press conference at Loftus Versfeld on December 6, regarding the circumstances of Nkosi’s recent disappearance.
According to Lowvelder’s sister paper, Pretoria Rekord, in Rathbone’s statement and subsequent discussion with the media, he said it had become clear that a confluence of circumstances all contributed to his mental breakdown.
Among other things, Nkosi’s recent move to Pretoria and his adaptation to a new living space after several seasons in Durban with the Sharks, was cited in the statement.
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He had also sustained an injury on October 30 in a URC match against the Sharks, and was consequently inable to accompany the Springboks on their European tour after initially being selected for the team.
Rekord said in its article that after everything had become too much for Nkosi, he consequently decided to go to his family – more specifically, his father’s house in eMalahleni – which Rathbone described as a “safe space” for him. This was the address where he was finally found last Monday.
According to Rathbone’s statement, it was clear – and he later emphasised this when questioned – that the Bulls are taking this situation seriously as a case of an employee who “as a person and not a rugby player” got into trouble regarding his mental health, and that it is not currently being treated as a disciplinary matter of employer versus employee.
