Francois Pienaar, other sports stars should get into politics

It is something erstwhile Springbok rugby captain Francois Pienaar says in a television clip that triggers my imaginative juices. Sport, he says, unifies a nation. Current captain Siya Kolisi, too, has similar sentiments.

And how we need unification.

There was a magic moment when we believed a new political dispensation would do the trick.

The yoke of apartheid was removed and a true statesman, representing all ordinary, law-abiding citizens, ushered in what a sincere cleric promised was a rainbow nation. The combination of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu set the tone for magic to happen.

At last, we chorused, the political climate was cleansed from a period dictated by a white minority with the attendant horrid cruel and divisive policy.

Now all had the vote, allowing a new party to right the wrongs of the past, creating jobs and looking after the poorest of the poor.

Our nation was on the march towards peace and prosperity. No more the stigma of a nation suffering from trimethylaminuricia. And with healthy investment prospects. For a change, politics smelled like an evening in Paris.

Sadly, as we know only too well, this little cameo was short-lived.

Under the Jacob Zuma leadership (sic), the smell of vrot fish returned, and save for having a vote, nothing has changed for the poor and unemployed. On the contrary, we are now referred to as a nation of junk, much worse than being branded the proverbial banana republic (which at least has bananas).

In a nutshell, politics hasn’t done it for us, whereas sport has managed to keep a semblance of unitedness. You only have to witness the spectator mix at all our sporting events to realise this.

Sitting side by side, all shades of the rainbow shout, clap and cajole, removing all thoughts of the political climate and racial bias.

It got me thinking. Let’s create a sport political party made up of former sports people. They’ve experienced weighty challenges on and off the field. Many are also in business and possess entrepreneurial skills.

Imagine Francois and his contemporaries seated on benches and adding a good dollop of intelligence to the debates.

Captain, oh Captain, run the ball and score under the spent ANC’s posts.

Cliff Buchler.

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