Siya Kolisi isn’t alone: Four other sportsmen who upset SA with their views on transformation

Having an opinion as an athlete on something as sensitive as transformation targets can be an extreme sport in itself. Siya Kolisi found that out the hard way on Monday, when he boldly claimed that Nelson Mandela “would not support” the quota system in South African sport.

He’s been called all the names under the sun – with some sassy social media users implying he’s a sporting version of Mmusi Maimane – but he isn’t the first sporting figure to cause controversy this way.

Kolisi now joins an infamous group of people – all superstars of sport in Mzansi and overseas – who have gone public with their transformation woes and drawn the ire of the public. We’re looking at some of the most contentious quotes on the matter from the past few years…

Siya Kolisi – Other sports stars who have said controversial things about transformation:

Jake White

The former Springboks coach royally put his foot in it last April, when he suggested that South Africa should name a predominantly black side to play Wales in Washington. White reasoned that this relatively “meaningless” friendly would be a good opportunity to tick-off the transformation boxes, completely missing the point of the quota system…

“I’d look to pick a team against Wales that is made up of local players with a special emphasis on those that count towards the transformation targets.”

“This team would serve the dual purpose of banking transformation credits to create selection breathing room for the England series, and would also give all of these players a chance to put their hand up on the international stage”

Jake White

Steve Hansen

The All Blacks coach chastised South Africa for being “the only nation that doesn’t pick its best team” last September. He registered his opposition to transformation quotas in an interview for The Jersey: The Secrets Behind the World’s Most Successful Team – a book that details New Zealand’s dominance in rugby:

“[Mandela] knew that the Springboks was a team that could unite the nation. I still believe it is, if they got things right and allowed it to develop naturally, it would. And you would get the right people in the team. In the end it would be a multi-cultural team.”

Steve Hansen

Derick Hougaard

The former Blue Bulls fly-half found himself in hot water a few years ago, when he angrily reacted to the Boks’ defeat to Italy in 2016. As has been the downfall for many mouthy pundits, Hougaard took to Twitter to vent his frustrations. He would go on to claim he was released from his SuperSport contract for these comments:

Unfortunately now we are feeling the snowball affect of transformation and government interference!!! Everything needs to change!!

— Derick Hougaard (@DerickHougaard) November 19, 2016

Graeme Pollock

We shift from rugby to cricket for our last contribution. Pollock, a former batsman for the Proteas during the years of apartheid, caught a bit of heat in 2017 for slamming transformation as a concept. It sparked a reaction from Faf du Plessis, who rubbished Pollock’s claims ahead of a Test against England at Trent Bridge:

“It’s never going to change. We’ve got to accept that South Africa are going to be middle of the road in their future Test cricket. The guys are playing in a bad standard of first-class cricket in South Africa because of the politics and interference in selection.”

Graeme Pollock