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Mandela told to stay out of South African race row

Former South African president Nelson Mandela has been asked to stay out of the race row that has engulfed Springbok rugby for the past two weeks, his office said yesterday.

Mandela, 85, had planned to play an advisory role in a bid to find a solution to the problem, but was persuaded to move aside by South Africa sports minister Ngconde Balfour.

"He has stepped back now, following a discussion on Sunday with the minister," Mandela's spokesperson Zelda la Grange said.

"The minister told Madiba [Mandela] that it was not advisable to meet with any of the parties in the rugby row at this time.

"But Madiba remains available to give advice should it be requested. He was going to give very general advice and he has enormous wisdom to offer, which was purely the purpose of his initial position. He did not want to interfere in any way."

Retired Judge Edwin King yesterday began his independent investigation into alleged prejudice within Springbok rugby, having set up his office at the SA Rugby headquarters at Newlands in Cape Town.

King, 74, was jointly appointed by SA Rugby, the professional arm of the sport, and the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) to head an independent inquiry into allegations made by former Springbok media manager Mark Keohane.

Last week, locks Geo Cronje and Quinton Davids were left out of the 30-man South Africa squad for next month's World Cup following an alleged racist incident at a training camp.

The 23-year-old Cronje was expelled from the squad's base for allegedly refusing to share a room with Davids, who is black, for racial reasons, although he was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal SARFU investigation.

However further allegations of prejudice within the squad were presented to SA Rugby last Tuesday in a seven-page report by media manager Keohane, who also resigned from his position that day in protest at what he called a "cover-up."

No time frame has been set for King's inquiry, but SARFU hope it will be "completed in the shortest possible time."

South Africa play their first World Cup game on Oct. 11 against Uruguay.
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