2018-06-20 15:25

Cape Town – South Africa’s Sports Ministry has welcomed the findings of the independent review into the sensational May 19 on-air incident involving SuperSport rugby pundits Ashwin Willemse, Nick Mallett and Naas Botha.

READ: Willemse to take SuperSport matter to Equality Court

Willemse last month walked off a live television set when he claimed he “felt patronised” by co-analysts Mallett and Botha.

On Tuesday, SuperSport CEO Gideon Khobane confirmed that no suggestions of racism were found on the part of Mallett and Botha, and confirmed that Willemse himself refrained from taking part in the review process with Advocate Vincent Maleka SC.

Vuyo Mhaga, the spokesperson for Minister of Sport and Recreation Tokozile Xasa, on Wednesday told EWN Sport: “We’ve noted and welcomed the investigation. That’s what we called for. Obviously, we’re a bit poorer because the major person in the whole thing, Mr Willemse, did not participate.”

After the findings of the report were released on Tuesday, the ministry initially refrained from commenting.

Mhaga had told Netwerk24 that the minister would thoroughly examine the report before commenting on its findings.

Immediately after the incident occurred in May, Xasa had sensationally called for the suspension of Botha and Mallett.

“This behaviour of entitlement by some white South Africans who continue to think that their whiteness represent better must come to an end, if it was not for a barbaric nonsensical apartheid system that privileged them we could not have implemented quota system to normalise an otherwise abnormal system. The continued appearance of Mallet and Botha will be seen as an endorsement of their alleged racist behaviour,” Xasa said in a statement released on May 20.

READ: The full Ashwin Willemse studio walk-off report

#AshwinWillemse Mhaga: “We are satisfied that there was no plastic over the matter and SuperSport tried their utmost best.”

— EWN Sport (@EWNsport) June 20, 2018