Cape Town – The South African Friends of Israel (Safi) has written to the South African Rugby Union (Saru), requesting minutes of the meeting where stakeholders were consulted about their decision to withdraw the participation of the Tel Aviv Heat rugby team in the Mzansi Challenge League next month.
They said failure to provide these details by Wednesday, would result in the submission of a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application first thing on Thursday.
The Tel Aviv Heat was set to participate in the new local rugby competition, the Mzansi Challenge League, along with four other international teams and six South African provinces from next month.
However, SA Rugby announced an invitation withdrawal amid outrage from various groups, and engagements with various stakeholders.
Saru president, Mark Alexander, said they took the decision following representations from important stakeholder groups.
“We have listened to the opinions of important stakeholder groups and have taken this decision to avoid the likelihood of the competition becoming a source of division, notwithstanding the fact that Israel is a full member of World Rugby and the International Olympic Committee,” Alexander said.
Safi has criticised the decision, claiming Saru was allowing “political interference” in sporting events.
Safi spokesperson, Pamela Ngubane, said they were never consulted on the matter.
“As a result, Safi has taken the decision to request the details of the stakeholders that Saru consulted on this issue. Failure to provide these, will result in the submission of a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application for the information that was used to come to this decision. Safi will request that Saru list the names of the stakeholders that were consulted, to ascertain which voices were afforded an undue influence in our country’s sporting fixtures and affairs...
“It is sad to see that Israel, as the only democracy in the Middle East, is being treated in this manner by a South African sporting entity,“ Ngubane said.
Saru declined to comment.
Africa4Palestine, who has welcomed the booting of the Israeli team, said they commend sporting associations for “embracing the spirit of global solidarity with the oppressed”.
Africa4Palestine Spokesperson, Alie Komape said: “Although there are many voices across the South African society celebrating this decision, a pocket of Israeli sympathizers and proxies are launching a pathetic attempt to force the hand of Saru and rescind this progressive human rights-centered resolution. They argue that Israel is ‘home to a multicultural society where the rights of all religions, minorities, ethnicities and beliefs’. This is a laughable assertion given that Israel, a modern state established in 1948 on Palestinian lands, is found guilty of the crime of Apartheid by human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.”
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the decision by Saru will serve as a reminder to Isreal that “its illegal occupation of the Palestinian land is an injustice that should not be tolerated”.
“The ANC continues to call on all progressive forces of the world to continue putting pressure on Israel to go back to a peaceful dialogue around the two states' solution and ultimately end one of the most protracted conflicts in the Middle East,” she said.
Cape Times