Patriotic Allicance MP Marlon Daniels said something he thought was sweeter than a melon, but it was even more sour than a lemon.
On a fumbling frolic to score cheap political points, Daniels thought he was displaying deft dribbling skills during the appearance of the South African Football Association (Safa) before the parliamentary portfolio committee on sports, arts & culture.
While Daniels complained about what he saw as the absence of coloured players in Bafana Bafana, all he did was to score a spectacular bicycle kick own-goal that would leave evergreen 40-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo green with envy.
“[Hugo] Broos, Bafana [Bafana] coach announced the final squad for the friendlies to be played this week and next week [against] Mozambique and Tanzania. Twenty-three players for the friendlies to be played. Sixteen of the 23 are black African players. Seven are not.
“I’ve always asked myself, particularly when I watch Bafana play, and at times if Ronwen Williams was not the goalkeeper, there would not have been a coloured player on that field. How and why is it?” Daniels demanded to know. “Why are you guys folding your arms when this happens? Is it because the ANC is controlling you? If it is the case, I want to know.”
Dizzy in doubt
Two of the goalkeepers in the squad he referenced are Ricardo Goss and Renaldo Leaner. The captain on Friday night was Fawaaz Basadien. His Stellenbosch teammate Ashley Cupido is there, as are Luke le Roux, Deano van Rooyen and Oswin Appollis.
I’m curious to know if honourable member Daniels honestly watches Bafana in alliance with all other patriotic football followers. Because his dishonourable delivery left me dizzy in doubt.
Perhaps the colour bar policies of apartheid South Africa left him colour blind because there is no shortage of players drawn from that section of our population in the composition of Bafana. It is a mystery why his eyes allow him only to see Williams.
Were Mamelodi Sundowns not besieged by the business of the Caf Champions League and the Club World Cup commitments, Williams would have captained Bafana, joining camp for country duty with his teammates Jayden Adams and Iqraam Rayners.
When fit from injury, Lyle Foster kicks to the kerb this coloured exclusion from Bafana that Daniels is peddling. He must have been under a rock when Amajimbos made the amazing run to reach and win the Afcon under-20 tournament.
Harrowing past
Soccer or football — whatever you want to call it — is the one sporting code that flashed the middle finger to the racial laws and segregation policies of the harrowing past of our country.
Journalists like Sy Lerman covered the game in Soweto during the height of apartheid. Administrators like Raymond Hack and Ronnie Schloss can give free lessons on how they traversed the landscape when it was unlawful for their kind to find themselves in the townships.
Thank heavens, Papa Penny was available to save us from Daniels’s wayward meandering by providing some comic relief with his gibberish question that would have made a lot of sense had the MK Party MP chosen to ask it in his mother tongue.
Not to be outdone was Danny Jordaan, who suffered a bout of severe amnesia when asked by Makashule Gana of Rise Mzansi if he would stand for re-election when his current term of office ends.
Jordaan, who is serving his third term as Safa president, said he would not say no if nominated by the regions to stay in office beyond 2027, and blatantly denied ever saying this was his final term.
Luckily for Jordaan, momentary memory lapses can be jogged by archive television material. A clip was played on the Soccer Africa show on SuperSport showing Jordaan saying so in his own words. And it is not artificial intelligence.
Can somebody, anybody, please buy coloured tinted glasses for Mr Daniels so he can enjoy Bafana united in their diversity.
Or maybe sport, arts & culture minister Gayton McKenzie, who is Daniels’s political boss, must speed up the delivery of VAR (video assistance referee) as it may come handy for this member of his party.
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