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While the spotlight was on Springbok Ashwin Willemse’s infamous walk-out of a TV studio at the weekend, another incident almost slipped under the radar.
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Western Province Rugby Union vice-president Gerald Njengele has been suspended for four years, for his alleged racial outburst at the Cape Town leg of the Sevens World Series last year.
WPRU President Thelo Wakefield confirmed the news to Rugby365.com that Njengele was slapped with the ban for breaking the union’s code of ethics.
Wakefield declined to elaborate, saying they regard the matter as ‘sub judice’, because Njengele is appealing the decision.
Reports of the incident first surfaced after the Cape Town Sevens on the weekend of December 9 and 10 last year.
According to media reports at the time, Njengele launched a scathing verbal and racial attack on Jessie Claassen, who is the national manager of the Vuka Rugby Programme – a South African Rugby Union-affiliated initiative that aims to cater for development in the poorer areas of the country.
Claassen said that the attack stemmed from his decision not to shake Njengele’s hand due to a previous altercation between the pair last August.
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When this happened, Njengele allegedly responded: “F**k you white people, f**k the coloureds. I’m a clever darkie. I don’t need your f*****g money.”
Njengele denied he made the comments, but was still found guilty and banned.
Njengele’s sanction comes just days after Ashwin Willemse, dramatically removed his microphone and walked off, live on air, while having been afforded an opportunity to air his opinion after the Super Rugby encounter between the Lions and Brumbies in Johannesburg at the weekend.
The dramatic scenes, caught on camera, show Willemse storm out of their studio, despite being live on air.
Willemse – who won 19 caps for the Springboks – spoke to camera regarding how he was perceived as a “quota player” during his playing days and that he refused to be ‘patronised’ – before dramatically walking off the set.
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His grievance appeared to be directed at fellow pundits Nick Mallett and Naas Botha – who he referred to as “apartheid era” players. The incident has elicited strong reactions, with heavy racial undertones.
A media release issued by SuperSport on Tuesday said the trio were locked in “robust discussions” for most of the day, with SuperSport CEO Gideon Khobane and MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela.
According to Khobane and Mawela, there was “no racism” at play when Willemse walked out of the studio at the weekend.
“What is encouraging with the discussions, we’ve had, is that Nick [Mallet], Naas [Botha], and also Ashwin [Willemse], were part of the discussions,” Mawela told a media briefing.
“They were all in the same room; they were courteous to each other; they shook hands; they openly [chatted].
“There is no animosity that exists between the three of them from what we could see today,” Mawela added.
The SuperSport CEO, Khobane, said they did not intend sweeping anything under the carpet and would instead deal with the issue fairly.
“This has become a national issue. We at SuperSport and MultiChoice treat this issue with all the seriousness it deserves,” he said. “We’ve had very robust discussions today from 7 o’clock this morning with all the role players involved. We recognise that we need further engagements,” he added.
“We are positive that this was not a racially motivated issue because all parties were very courteous during our discussions that started this morning‚” Khobane said.
In a media release, it was revealed that the trio will all three resume duties. It is basically ‘business as usual’.
“There was a significant move in the parties finding common ground,” the statement said. “This is merely the first stage of the process to address the issues raised by the weekend’s events.”
This could make for some fantastic and incredibly awkward television.
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments