An interesting... disingenous statement

Here is a quote from SA Today, Helen Zille's weekly newsletter. (Cannot find the text online but will post link when I can - it usually goes onto politicsweb)

A colleague in the National Assembly, Donald Lee, reminded me of an exchange with Manuel on the issue of quotas back in 2005. Manuel wrote:

“You argue that [quotas are] racism and the equivalent of apartheid. I think that you are so wrong.”

So, six years ago Manuel endorsed racial head-counting as a legitimate practice, now he says it is akin to apartheid.

This is disingenuous. The picture Helen Zille is trying to paint here is that Manuel is a racist and that it is merely convenient that he is pushing the "coloured agenda" in the Western Cape near election time and this quote is supposed to prove that he had some major race-profiling "agenda" when he said this. Whether this is true is not what I am arguing here.

The exchange with Donald Lee that Zille mentioned above was actually about SPORT (You can read the full exchange here) and "quotas" therein. One of the examples Lee uses in his criticism is "And yet today – in a new South Africa – we find ourselves facing the exact same situation, players like Kevin Pieterson [sic], along with many others, feel that they too cannot reach their full potential and have moved elsewhere".

I digress, but yep, Donald Lee reckoned that the "quotas" in sport meant no opportunities for white people. Yep - only seven of the current South African team are white folks.

Taking a quote outrageously out of context, which was made in response to Lee incorrectly saying that white South Africans have no chances in sport (citing parallels with Basil D'Oliveria nogal) is not fair.

Now understand something, I am not telling you whether or not this racist legislation was signed or not signed by Manyi or Manuel or whoever - or who is being hypocritical or incorrect or whether Manuel is indeed just saying that for the electoral benefit of coloureds in the WC or whatever. But, in line with what I have written previously, I think that communication from the DA is (becoming) acidic and horrible. To take something Manuel said 6 years ago about a different matter - yes, "quotas" in sport and spreading coloured and Indian people around the country are two very different matters - is unfair.

It is the equivalent of Zille saying six years ago that she hired someone to help paint her house and that proves she is anti-workers rights and it is why she stands by the DA's stance on labour broking.

Not cool, DA.

An interesting... flowered irritation

Since Kevin Pietersen came to try and get some form back by playing for The Dolphins, the UK and other international cricket writers keep on saying he went back to SA to play for Natal. Even this morning, 2 months after it happened, Mark Nicholas (who is one of the top commentators in the world) said Natal.

The province is called KwaZulu-Natal.

This is not some contentious name like Tshwane or Mike Sutcliffe's plethora of road name variations. KwaZulu-Natal has been called so since 1994. That's a cool 16 years that cricket commentators have had to get used to it.

I am not talking about your local British person who has never been here. I am talking about professional journalists who have followed the English team here on more than one occasion and been to the province.

If it's too long for their poor keyboards then abbreviate it to KZN like most of us do.

Outside that, I'm so excited to watch Rhodesia make a return to Test cricket with a banging fixture in Salisbury against Ceylon.