Cape Town – Springbok captain Eben Etzebeth said his team is looking forward to test themselves against a very good Irish team on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

“We know it’s going to be a real tough Test but we are looking forward to resume our battle against the Irish. We had an unbelievable series last year in South Africa, but this time they are playing at home and with the advantage of a home crowd,” explains Etzebeth.

“They have some world class players in their team and they are very good at set-pieces and keeping possession. We know we will have to work extremely hard against a quality Irish side.

“As coach Allister (Coetzee) has said earlier in the week, we don’t see this as an end of the year tour.

“This is the Outgoing Tour, it consists of four matches and we will take it game by game, starting tomorrow evening in Dublin,” said Etzebeth, who will play in his 64th Springbok Test on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Springboks wrapped up their match preparations on Friday afternoon with a captain’s walk-through at the Aviva Stadium, the venue for Saturday’s Test.

The game starts at 19h30 SA time and will be televised live on SuperSport.

South Africa will also play against France, Italy and Wales on their month-long tour of Europe.

Image: Gallo Images/SA Rugby

Teams:

Ireland

15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Cian Healy

Substitutes: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 James Ryan, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Darren Sweetnam

South Africa

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Francois Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6, Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth (captain), 3 Coenie Oosthuizen 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi , 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Francois Venter

POLOKWANE – Stuart Baxter felt that his position as coach of Bafana Bafana is not under threat after South Africa’s  ‘Road to Russia 2018’ hopes ended with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Senegal at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Friday evening.

“My mandate was never about ‘qualify for the World Cup or you go home’. I want to make sure that we’re making progress,” said Baxter in a pitchside post-match interview.

Referring to the match, Baxter said: “It’s difficult for the team and difficult for the home country. We tried to get ourselves back into contention after those back to back losses to Cape Verde. Based on our performance in the first half it was amazing that we went 2-0 down because I thought we were better than them.”

READ: 2018 World Cup qualifiers: Bafana humbled by Senegal

“We didn’t have one class-act that could conjure up something out of nothing. We missed our chances. In the second half, we still created more chances than they did. But it all means nothing as we went down 2-0 and they go to Russia.”

Bafana Bafana will play for pride when they host Senegal in the return leg qualifier in Dakar on Tuesday and Baxter was in two minds over how to approach the game where the result is of mere academic importance.

“I want to look at the log first and see. Do we have a chance to be better than we are? If that’s the case we’ll play our strong side and try to win the game,” said the former Kaizer Chiefs and Supersport United coach.

“I don’t think we had a lack of effort from the players. I may give a chance to a few lads who work very hard in training and haven’t had game time. It’s a dead-rubber. It’s about pride for the shirt and pride for the results of the country. So we will go and do the best we can.”

With Baxter’s appointment off the back of Mamelodi Sundowns’ African Champions League title, a lot was expected of Bafana Bafana, but the squad is simply weaker in areas that it used to have strength and depth, notably in central defence. 

African News Agency

Cape Town – ANC presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Thursday evening rejected public speculation that she was corrupt, saying that she never accepted any money from cigarette smugglers.

Her comments follow a Sunday Times report, which alleged that her presidential campaign received a financial contribution from self-confessed tobacco smuggler, Adriano Mazzotti.

In a series of tweets, the former African Union (AU) chairperson said she has never been involved in corruption.

“People can accuse me of many things, but not corruption. I’m not corrupt and I don’t loot,” Dlamini-Zuma tweeted.

Asked by Ben Pooler (@benpooler) whether she had accepted money from cigarette smugglers, Dlamini-Zuma responded with a simple “no”.

Photos

Her spokesperson Vukani Mthintso told News24 that Dlamini-Zuma has no “substantive relations” with Mazzotti.

“She has never approached him for any assistance, nor has he approached her and offered assistance with her campaign,” Mthintso said.

Asked how photos of Dlamini-Zuma and Mazzotti surfaced online, Mthintso said: “Thousands of people post photos taken with her and she is no position to respond as to why each individual posts such photos.”

In the series of tweets, Dlamini-Zuma also said she believes that land reform should take place “legally”.

“[It should] not create another crisis. It must benefit the landless majority,” she said.

Twitter users, however, replied to Dlamini-Zuma that she was compromised by the people she surrounds herself with.

@Pheli7812 tweeted “: As long as you are friends with your ex-husband’s crooked friends, we can’t trust you. You’ll owe them and have to defend them the same way he does.”

Koketso Rantlhwatlhw (@KRantlhwatlhw) said Dlamini-Zuma will eventually be corrupted.

“The only reason they are pushing you to become the ANC leader is merely to loot, nothing else,” Rantlhwatlhw said.

JOHANNESBURG – A new poll is exploring race relations in the Western Cape.

Researchers from MarkData polled hundreds of people over the past two months.

The survey is collecting data ahead of the ANC’s elective conference.

White people are in the minority in the Western Cape, but the provincial leader is white.

To many, this might seem like a throwback to the Apartheid era.

But, new data on the perceptions of racial relations is far more complex.

etv commissioned a survey in the build-up to the ANC’s elective conference.

The researchers from MarkData interviewed nearly 180 ANC voters.

They also polled about 260 people who are supporters of other parties.

One of the questions deals with race relations in the Western Cape.

Respondents were asked if relations had improved or worsened in recent times.

43% of non-ANC voters see a positive change – 30% say relations are getting worse.  

Interestingly, ANC voters are more bullish – more than half of the respondents polled say relations are improving.

But, there are some who are concerned.

Over 30% say there’s been no improvement – while nearly 12% think race relations are getting worse.

The governing party will elect its new leader next month.

eNCA

JOHANNESBURG – Former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel believes there’s a strong chance the ANC might lose the 2019 elections.

He was speaking after the Eric Molobi memorial lecture at the University of Johannesburg, during which he said the party is in trouble.

Former Finance Minister Manuel says, “We lived with the slogan “ANC lives, ANC leads”. At the moment I don’t think that’s in evidence. The fortunes as represented by the 2016 local government elections shown an 8% drop.”

READ: Zuma the worst leader ANC has ever had: SACP

“Now I know we can’t always use that as a proxy. I also know that once the ANC is in trouble, other political parties still have a long way to reach the fortunes. But I have said before that the trend line looks as though it will be coalition politics beyond the 2019 elections.”

Manuel reiterated that not all the blame can be placed on Zuma as there are people who have been acting on his behalf. He says that notable in the ANC NEC that just do what they are told, without questioning. 

He added that the capabilities of the Hawks, the NPA, the public protector and the public protector need to be questioned. As upholders of the law he says that these state bodies need to not only serve the interest of the ruling elite but also the common man.

#Manuel: The same movement [ANC] that mobilisd people regardless of class, race and gender…is now no longer capable of doing that. Those embedded in key roles serve only their masters and not the people.

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

#Manuel: Today we must ask why the NPA, the Scorpions who became the Hawks, police Crime Intelligence, #SSA, and even the @PublicProtector have been rendered “incapable”. Parliament can be added to this.

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

#Manuel: I wish I could attribute this all to President #Zuma. But he doesn’t act alone. In fact, he often gets people to act on his behalf. The ANC NEC does what it is told. There are very notable exceptions.

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

#Manuel: If so much money is said to have exchanged hands back in 2012 [at Mangaung]…imagine how much will exchange hands at the #ANC‘s December conference in just 37 days?

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

#Manuel: My hunch is there is fresh manipulation of numbers to come in the #ANC December elective conference. The likelihood of December collapsing on day 1 and 2 due to credentials is incredibly likely.

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

#Manuel: ANC must take action and not rhetoric to change the situation. There is probably zero prospect of that happening. We need an #ANC that recognises it has lost its way.

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

#Manuel: If the #ANC are incapable of leading they will simply have to follow. Right now it appears too self serving to think of the ppl of South Africa. I can’t tell you how painful this self-realisation is for me.

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

#Manuel: What is #Zuma on about [re #nuclear] when the big challenge is how do we provide good quality service to the people? How can we look people in the eye and tell them that tomorrow will be better than today?

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

#Manuel: There is a belief that if they [the NEC] act within the #ANC there will be another breakaway. They are prisoners of their own inaction now.

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

#Manuel: The old [#ANC] hasn’t died and the new isn’t born yet. The movement is paying the price. It’s history, it’s traditions are paying the price. There is walking over the sacrifice of so many.

— Michael Appel (@TheMikeAppel) November 9, 2017

eNCA