LISTEN: ‘No racism’ in Ashwin Willemse walkout, says SuperSport
An independent review by Advocate Vincent Maleka has found that racism played no part in the Ashwin Willemse walk-out in May.
The former Springbok winger walk off the set during a live broadcast, accusing fellow analysts Nick Mallet and Naas Botha of undermining him.
A month after the incident, SuperSport CEO Gideon Khobane and Multichoice CEO Calvo Mawela briefed the media on the outcomes of the report on Tuesday.
Khobane said Willemse refused to participate in the review because he did not believe it was the correct forum.
“Advocate Maleka found that the conduct of Botha and Mallet during the off-air conversation with Ashwin and during the live studio broadcast did not manifest naked racism and was not motivated by racist considerations.”
The report believes there are two factors which provide a reasonable explanation for the incident.
“The first is the mistake in a technical assumption that there was enough time for all the analysts to express their pre-match commentary of the match, however the switch to the live broadcast happened sooner anticipate and consequently there was no time for Ashwin to express his views. The panel then agreed off air that Ashwin would be given the first opportunity to speak after the game,” said Khobane.
According to the report, Willemse may have regarded the common stance adopted by Mallet and Naas to give him an opportunity to speak first during the post-match live broadcast as patronizing.
Mallet and Botha will be back in studio soon.
Khobane said Willemse’s contract has not been terminated and the company will approach him to get his side of the story.
Listen below: