Ken Borland

Eduard Coetzee admits that, during his playing days, he moved to France for nine years because he did not believe, as a White player, that he had a future in South African rugby. Now, as CEO of the Sharks, he is spearheading one of the most ambitious and successful beacons of transformation and inclusive culture in the game.

The former Sharks and SA A prop left Durban in 2005 and played for Bayonnais and Biarritz, before returning to Durban in 2012 and working in the financial sector. He was appointed as the Sharks’ commercial and marketing manager in 2014, chief operations officer in 2015 and became CEO in July 2019.

Coetzee’s business savvy – he has a doctorate in Inclusive Business Model Innovation – and vision certainly played a part in one of the biggest investments ever in South African sport when the MVM consortium became private equity partners of the Sharks.

But the Sharks don’t just have plenty of financial capital; there is also the sense that they have tremendous moral capital in the bank because of the nation-building project that is going so well at Kings Park.

“When we discussed transformation back in the day, all the heads – Black and White – used to drop in the team room,” Coetzee recalls. “It was seen as a punitive thing.

“Whites would feel they had no future in the game and agents played a big hand in that. I was in France for nine years because I believed I had no future here.

“But transformation, in terms of gender, race and mindsets, is a business priority. A lot has changed and ‘I See Colour’ is the cornerstone of our culture. I’m White, you’re Black and that’s cool. We can’t act as if colour doesn’t exist.

“It’s not about apologising for who I am but about being sympathetic to other people. And I had an upbringing that paralleled Steve Hofmeyr’s – Affies, Tuks, the Bulls,” Coetzee points out.

The 42-year-old knows, of course, that on-field success is what the Sharks will ultimately be measured on, however, and even there, ambitions are high.

“We have ambitions of being global competitors. We want to win the Heineken Champions Cup. Previously we were just trying to survive as South African franchises, we would build players up and then lose them.

“But we weren’t an unsuccessful franchise, we were happy enough. But MVM have brought an attitude of we want to try to be the best. They are thinking big.

“We want to invest in people and uplift the community. It’s not about turfing out our history but amplifying it and the global reach of what they believe is an undervalued team,” Coetzee says.

One of the notable gifts of the married father of three sons is the ability to see the potential in others.

“There are guys here who really come from nothing and when you discuss their previous life with them, you realise what that actually means.

“And then you throw them into a situation with lots of money and pressure and no support. That’s where our life coaching and educational development programmes come in.

“I’m still studying and I tell the players that if I have time to do it, then so do you. We have created a structure that gives them enough time to study, with the help of tutors.

“If they do want to go into business, we help them with seed capital through our business development office and our investors draw people of influence into the Sharks environment,” Coetzee points out.

Next time you’re in Durban, pop into the coffee shop at Kings Park, which is run by players, or the local chicken shop which the Sharks have invested in and which has 10 franchises in KZN and five others in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

It is all part of the Sharks’ policy of treating their players unbelievably well … and thereby getting the best out of them on the field and hopefully keeping them in Durban.

Cricket South Africa owe a great deal of thanks to the Brexiteers of the United Kingdom as their efforts have led to the return of some top-class players just as the domestic game heads into a new-look, uncertain future.

Because Brexit engineered Britain’s exit from the European Union, all Kolpak deals fell away and South Africans playing county cricket in England could no longer do that unless it was on the basis of them being registered as overseas players. Which would then allow them to play in – and for – South Africa.

And so the likes of Simon Harmer (Northerns), Kyle Abbott (Boland), Stiaan van Zyl (Boland), Duanne Olivier (Gauteng), Wayne Parnell (WP) and Hardus Viljoen (Boland) are all returning to the domestic game. Coupled with Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander coming out of retirement to play for Western Province and Chris Morris signing a contract with Northerns, it means a raft of invaluable experience and quality is returning to provincial cricket, which can only be good.

Some of those players have only been able to secure a one-year contract though, because the teams were only allowed to give out eight two-year contracts out of their squad of 16.

In terms of these players’ availability for the Proteas, there is nothing technically stopping them from being called up. Although some of them, most notably fast bowler Olivier, left South Africa in awkward circumstances. As an organisation, Cricket South Africa had the right to feel snubbed in certain cases.

National coach Mark Boucher was asked recently specifically about Olivier’s chances of a Proteas recall and what he described would apply to all of the returning players.

“A lot of things need to happen. He needs to show form in our system, we can’t judge him on what he’s done in the past for South Africa or overseas. Then we need to ask whether he fits into our culture, will he show good attitude and are the other guys happy to have him. If he can tick all those boxes then we would welcome him back,” Boucher said.

Given an opportunity at outside centre by coach Jake White, Springbok Sevens stalwart Stedman Gans has become one of the Bulls’ star players in their successful 2020/21 campaign and while he achieves some goals, he says there are more boxes he wants to tick in the future.

The 23-year-old Gans, born in Vredenburg on the Cape West Coast but educated at Waterkloof and Tuks, played three Currie Cup games off the bench for the Blue Bulls in 2019, but it was a major surprise when White entrusted him in SuperRugby Unlocked with the No.13 jersey. And it was a masterstroke as Gans has brought considerable flair, skill and defensive nous to the midfield alongside another former Sevens star in Cornal Hendricks.

“The plan was always to come back to XVs and I’ve really enjoyed the last year with the Bulls, I’m definitely happy with the way things have gone. I’m not surprised that us Sevens guys have done so well because the way XVs is going, it definitely suits the Sevens guys more these days. More speed and skill are coming in, power still plays a big role but skill has a big influence now.

“Because I play at No.13, a big motivation for moving to Sevens was to sharpen my defence, my tracking ability, and that’s a big focus in Sevens. I think we’ve shown that Sevens players can come in and make a big difference in the 15-man game. A guy like Cornal is a Springbok, he has played for a long time, at a few places, and you get a lot from the experience and calmness that he brings,” Gans, who represented the Blitzbokke from 2016 to 2019, said.

Looking ahead to the Currie Cup semi-final against the Lions at Loftus Versfeld next weekend, Gans said the do-or-die nature of the Sevens circuit will certainly help him prepare for the nerves and the pressure of knockout rugby.

“There are certain things I’ve learned from Sevens for if you’re in these situations, these pressure positions, I’m fortunate to have been in those a few times. So I will just focus on the processes and not the outcome, and there are certain mental triggers and I will use those in the next week.

“We are very aware that the Lions will bring their A-game in the semi-final, so we must prepare well and be at our best as well. We expect their best game of the season from the Lions, they’re definitely going to bring their A-game so we have to too if we are going to play in the final,” Gans said.

As for the rest of 2021, it is an Olympic year and Gans would like to be in the mix for a return to the Springbok Sevens squad.

“The Olympic Games are a definite goal, but closer to the time those details will be tightened up. But I have spoken to coach Jake White and it is his intention and mine to give me the opportunity to go to Japan if the Blitzbokke want me. It will be a very difficult decision if the Springboks want me at the same time, I will have to make that if we get there,” Gans said.

Much like the country as a whole after the pillaging of the State Capturers, the future of South African cricket is finely balanced at the moment with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic just placing more strain on a sport that was already under enormous financial pressure and stumbling blindly under the leadership of self-serving, pernicious administrators.

Cricket Capture is real and the malfeasants who have only been interested in their own power and enrichment are still very much alive and kicking in the halls of administration. They have no intention of losing their seat at the table that allows them to sate their voracious appetites.

It is unsurprising then, given the total lack of integrity they have previously shown, that they would resort to dirty tricks and shadowy tactics to discredit those who genuinely have the good of the game at heart. In the minds of these blights on the game, cricket is there to serve them, not the other way round.

The fraudulent document circulated this week claiming national coach Mark Boucher is a shareholder in 3TCricket is typical of a dirty tricks campaign and proves the existence of these nefarious forces. Acting CEO Jacques Faul is also coming under severe pressure and director of cricket Graeme Smith is for some reason being tarnished as “anti-transformation”. Lest we forget, as captain he probably made the biggest contribution ever to transforming the national team by coming up with the ProteaFire mantra that enabled the team to embrace diversity and develop a strong, unified culture.

It is absolutely laughable that Faul, Smith and Boucher are being accused of somehow pulling off a “coup” and putting Cricket South Africa back under White control. Faul was appointed – for the second time – by a majority Black board led by president Chris Nenzani; Smith was originally headhunted for his position by former CEO Thabang Moroe; and Boucher, who won five domestic trophies in three seasons, certainly has the support of the Black players in the national squad, many of whom have spoken about how helpful it has been to have coaches with huge international experience guiding the Proteas at this delicate stage of rebuilding.

It is clear though that the Cricket Capturers are planning another coup themselves. By getting rid of Faul, who has now been placed on a month-to-month contract, they would likely get rid of Smith as well. South Africa’s greatest captain only took up the position of Director of Cricket after Faul was appointed, having previously declined to work under Moroe.

The CSA Board, who hold ultimate power, is full of Cricket Capturers and those who have aided and abetted them, and they are working hard to maintain their grip on the game.

Apart from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and their ever-shrinking resources in terms of both finances and players, truly transforming the game into one that reaches all communities and provides equal opportunities for all talent is a seemingly never-ending challenge for CSA.

In the last week sports minister Nathi Mthethwa has castigated Nenzani for the all-White look to the senior management of the Proteas and Central Gauteng Lions and former Proteas spinner Aaron Phangiso has spoken out about the lack of transformation that has dogged his own career.

Phangiso of course went to the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and did not play a single game, one of the most disgusting examples of selectorial window-dressing in Proteas history. And that was under the watch of Nenzani, Haroon Lorgat as CEO and Russell Domingo as coach; none of them being White. Of course when it came to the semi-finals then the politicians saw fit to get involved and the infamous dropping of the in-form Kyle Abbott happened.

Mthethwa’s criticism of Nenzani happened at the Parliamentary Sports Portfolio Committee meeting with CSA top brass a week ago, and it was interesting in my research to come across CSA’s presentation to the same body back in 2015.

The World Cup semi-final storm was described as “one mischievous CWC selection issue” and a list of five Black African cricketers who were being assisted in a High Performance Squad was provided. Temba Bavuma is the only one of those five to have played regularly for the Proteas; Eddie Leie (2), Mangaliso Mosehle (7), Mthokozisi Shezi (1) and Khaya Zondo (5) have pulled on the Green and Gold just 15 times between them. They have all seen their franchise careers take a dip in the last five years as well.

Nenzani has been president of CSA since 2013 and I would love to know what transformation successes he can claim to have delivered in the longest ever tenure as president? Transformation has been under Black control for the last decade so why are Faul, Smith and Boucher suddenly being blamed for the lack of progress on that front?

The treatment Omphile Ramela had to endure from Moroe and the CSA Board as president of the players’ union and the complaints I hear from Black African staff that they were underpaid before Faul returned as CEO make me wonder just who exactly is anti-transformation?