Hold that whip, please!

You don’t need to agree with everything in De Kock’s statement over not taking the knee, but you can’t help admire the vulnerable honesty of his confession

Ubuntu. A Zulu (bantu) philosophy of humanism. I am because you are. Because we are. Self through others.

Despite (sadly) not being South African, Ubuntu is what I aspire to. As a wildlife guide in South Africa, I am familiar with the many faces of the Rainbow Nation, but I have no right to claim anything other than a deep and abiding love for all its peoples and animals. This is why I read Quinton De Kock’s  recent statement and it reminded me that he is a man grappling with Ubuntu at a time when the world is looking to dissect his every motive.

Fair play to QDK, finally we see a media statement that actually says something, that speaks from the heart, speaks a truth that unmasks the complexities of his mixed-heritage connections in modern-day South Africa. You don’t need to agree with everything he says to not admire the vulnerable honesty of his confession. It speaks to a young man who has grown up in a country where tribalism and heritage and generational guilt and reconciliation are all interwoven into a tapestry that clearly cannot be unravelled by simply taking a knee.

I have no intention of making a political statement here. As a regular guest in South Africa, I have no right to offer opinions on things that I have no direct investment in. But maybe I can put De Kock’s delicate situation into context and you can decide for yourself where you sit with his stance on racism.

Easy to get on with

I am reliably informed that De Kock is “an easy guy to get on with, hated public speaking, streetwise, doesn’t tolerate fools.” This, from someone who has known him since he was an overweight (albeit talented) 13-year-old, who then became so focused on his cricket that he has since become one of the Proteas’ greats. It is also clear from numerous sources that he is anti-establishment, anti-authoritarianism. In other words, he is his own man and doesn’t like being dictated to. As for any suggestions that he is racist, all I heard from my sources was an emphatic “NO WAY” but they did concede that he is both naive and headstrong which can be a potent cocktail when mixing cricket and politics in South Africa today.

Here’s some context; by all accounts, Cricket South Africa (CSA) love a yes man and they value obedience over excellence. If this is indeed even partly true, then the QDK cocktail mix was only like to end in the Molotov version. And so it has exploded. Thus, why is anyone surprised?

In fairness to both De Kock and CSA, it appears that they have both attempted to meet each other at the gates of reconciliation. Both parties have admitted that if they had their time again, they might not have jumped on the front foot so hastily, perhaps choosing instead to take more time and play the ball late rather than running down the pitch and being stumped so publicly. For those of us who would love to see De Kock playing for his country again for pure cricketing reasons, it is encouraging to see that fires are not being put out with kerosene (yet).

Those more cynical than I might wonder if De Kock would have been just as disobedient if the directive had come from his IPL franchise instead of CSA? If the directive to take a knee had come when he was on the Mumbai Indians bus, would he have also stood by his guns? Do rupees (lots and lots of them) buy more obedience than rand?

Divided opinion 

The cricket world continues to be divided by De Kock’s initial withdrawal and refusal to take a knee. His subsequent statement will not mollify everyone, least of all passionate South Africans at either end of the extremes from Pretoria to Limpopo and west to Robben Island. I have read some excellent and passionate arguments from people on both sides of the fence, each arguing eloquently in support of their position. Perhaps, the hot-headed Quinny might not have realised that he should have stayed in his crease before he charged out of the blocks and made a hasty decision on the team bus that fateful morning. But the die has been cast. He will now have to live with the ramifications of his decision. He is no longer a child; in the eyes of many, he has betrayed his privilege and his status as a hero to people of all hues of the rainbow. There are also those who believe passionately that symbolism and tokenism don’t change lives in townships like Soweto, Alexandra, Umlazi and Khayelitsha where the legacy of apartheid still scorches people 30 years on from Mandela’s emancipation.

Worse still, there are those who might twist De Kock’s confusion and recalcitrance to bow to a CSA directive as a clarion call to showcase their racist underbellies. They hide behind the curtain of deception that All Lives Matter conveniently forgetting that this has not always been the case with oppressed people the world over. If all lives had mattered forever, we wouldn’t need a special BLM movement today. As Michael Holding so eloquently said last year, “we black people know white lives matter. I don’t think you know that black lives matter. So don’t shout back at us saying, All Lives Matter. It’s obvious. The evidence is clearly there that white lives matter. We want black lives to matter now. As simple as that.”

South Africa. India. Pakistan. Students allegedly being bashed because of a cricket match.  Commentators invoking religious supremacy. One people against another. To take a knee, to not take a knee. I have no answers except a futile hope for a global Ubuntu. A belief in a universal bond that connects all humanity. Cricket has the power to be that Ubuntu. It can elevate all of us up or bring us all to our knees.

I am because you are. Because we are.

The writer is a Brisbane-based former first-class cricketer

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