No racism picked up in #AshwinWillemse discussions, says Multichoice CEO
CAPE TOWN – Multichoice South Africa chief executive Calvo Mawela says that Monday’s meeting between Ashwin Willemse, Nick Mallett and Naas Botha was courteous, and that there “is no racism that we picked up from any of the discussions that we have had”.
Mawela and SuperSport CEO Gideon Khobane met with the three rugby analysts on Monday after Willemse walked off set during a live broadcast on Saturday night, where he said he was “not going to be patronised by two individuals who played in apartheid”, referring to Mallett and Botha, who were Springboks in the 1980s.
While the investigation is still ongoing, Mawela told the media on Monday evening at the Multichoice headquarters in Randburg: “They were courteous to each other, they shook hands, they openly chatted.
“So, there’s no animosity that exists between the three of them – from what we have seen today. “They kept on talking to each other like mature people, and that we think is a positive step in terms of the engagement that we are having.
“But we have not come to any conclusions at this stage. We all agreed that we will continue the engagements going forward. We can’t say when it will be concluded.
“From the observation of today’s discussions, there is no racism that we picked up from any of the discussions that we have had. As far as we are concerned, it’s people who got into some discussions of some sort, and we are still digging deeper to find out what really happened and led to this type of action, because nobody walks off stage just for the sake of walking off stage.
“There must be something deeper, and we are engaging with all parties to get to the bottom of this.”
More to follow…
IOL Sport