‘Honorary white Xhosa’ Gavin Watson remembered
The Watsons, who spoke fluent isiXhosa, were not just seen by the colour of their skin but became heroes.
Gavin Watson.
In the Eastern Cape, Gavin Watson was an honorary white Xhosa.
At the height of apartheid, Zwide – a dusty township in Port Elizabeth – became his playground and an area of anti-apartheid resistance for the Watsons, with other brothers Cheeky, Valance and Ronnie playing prominent roles.
In the 1980s, which marked the height of state repression under the regime of PW Botha as head of state, the Watson brothers spearheaded what was unthinkable for any white South African – defying apartheid to play rugby with blacks in an area designated for “blacks only”.
The Watsons, who spoke fluent isiXhosa, were not just seen by the colour of their skin but became heroes.
The only interaction at the time between white and black people, was “maid and madam”, “baas and boy”.
When Gavin Watson drove to Zwide Stadium to play rugby with us – the encounter became about more than just sport.
No white man would dare come to a black-designated township to play rugby and later invite friends to a family home in the upmarket “whites only” Park Drive suburb, in defiance of apartheid in the 1980s.
Brian Sokutu.
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