Kallis hits wrong note on SA anthem

It is my choice whether I sing or do not sing the anthem. I certainly do not have to explain my reasons. I do have good and valid reasons and I intend to keep it that way

Fighting to save the Johannesburg Test, the last thing the South Africans wanted was this front-page headline leaping at them this morning: Kallis won’t sing national anthem.

It’s a bizarre story really, one that was sparked by an innocuous query to Cricket South Africa by a reader who asked Kallis why he never saw him mouthing the national anthem with the team out on the field before every international match. The anthem symbolises the fight against the Apartheid regime.

Was the veteran all-rounder just too shy, or was there a deeper reason? Kallis, wouldn’t elaborate but he did send an email back to the reader, Ebrahim Sadak, writing, “It is my choice whether I sing or do not sing the anthem. I certainly do not have to explain my reasons to anyone, especially you. I do have good and valid reasons and I intend to keep it that way.”

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But under the current climate of suspicion, with talk of so-called quotas for non-white players doing the rounds, especially in the Afrikaans media, the English newspaper that carried the story, The Sunday Times, tried to get Kallis to clarify his remarks — he did not get back.

The Sunday Times then got through to CSA CEO Gerald Majola who said he would discuss the issue with Kallis once this Test was over. Majola then pointed to “results of research” and added that CSA “insists on having the anthem sung” to encourage nation-building and build a bridge between the players and supporters.

A bit strange that, when you read this initial mail send by CSA to Sadak. The Board’s marketing manager Ros Goldin wrote: “While we do encourage all our players to sing the anthem, it is at their discretion whether they wish to do so. Jacques’ choice not to sing is certainly not due to his being anti SA or because he thinks he is indispensable! It is simply his right within a democratic environment not to sing.”

Sadak, however, was not satisfied – he pressed on and got CSA to route his question to Kallis through manager Goolam Rajah. Well, he got his reply, in a paragraph that will hang over the team long after this Test.