‘Not Rassie, ME’ — Fikile Mbalula takes credit for Kolisi’s captaincy and Springboks success
Fikile Mbalula believes he is the reason why Siya Kolisi was appointed as Springboks captain under Rassie Erasmus’ reign as head coach.
Siya Kolisi was selected as Springboks captain in 2018 by then head coach Rassie Erasmus, who serves as director of rugby these days.
Over the last couple of days, many social media users have credited Rassie Erasmus his exceptional dedication and commitment to transformation with the Springbok team.
But on Wednesday, Mbalula took exception to one such viewpoint and openly challenged contradicted it.
“Those who followed rugby will know the struggles black players faced, being called qouta players. But arrival of Rassie Erasmus made sure that if you are good enough you get selected regardless of the colour of your skin. He deserves all the recognition,” wrote X / Twitter user
@Tabile_Zukile
.
Fikile Mbalula, who was Minister of Sport (2010-2017), Minister of Police (2017-2018) and Minister of Transport 2019-2023) and currently serves as ANC Secretary General, responded with the following message:
“Its not Rassie who did away with quotas its me bcos they were counter productive,We entrenched the transformation charter hence u see Siya been the captain. But i understand your point and fully agree about your assertion about Rassie.”