What would Siya Kolisi do? The question is unfair on several levels. Not least that the team Kolisi captains, the rugby union men’s Springboks, will never have to countenance taking on Afghanistan. Temba Bavuma isn’t as fortunate. He will lead South Africa’s men’s team against the Afghans in three ODIs in Sharjah from next week.
Hashmatullah Shahidi’s side represents a country where government oppression, particularly against women, echoes how black and brown South Africans were treated under the white supremacist system of apartheid. How did that make Bavuma feel as a cricketer and a man who shares his life with women?
“It’s something that is quite strong within my own values,” Bavuma told a press conference on Friday. “I support the idea of inclusivity and caring for women. We want a fair chance within society. We know that that is relevant to us as a country in South Africa.”
Kolisi is among the most recognisable and popular of South Africans having led the Boks to World Cup triumphs in 2019 and 2023. He has also become a vocal activist against gender-based violence (GBV). On August 31, after he was part of his team’s epic 31-27 victory over New Zealand’s All Blacks in Johannesburg, he said: “It’s 30 years of freedom [after South Africa’s first democratic elections in April 1994]. I want to say congratulations to South Africans.
“But we know there are many people who are still not free. Hopefully, the next celebration we have is for the women who are free of GBV. Let’s celebrate but [remember] that there are so many people who are not free yet.”
Days earlier, Afghanistan’s government had enforced a new set of “vice and virtue” laws that decreed, “Whenever an adult woman leaves her home out of necessity, she is obliged to conceal her voice, face, and body.”
Since the brutally conservative Taliban swept into power in September 2021 to fill the vacuum left by the turbulent withdrawal from Afghanistan by the United States military, female Afghans have been barred from being educated beyond primary school level and from holding almost all jobs. Failure to conform to a strict dress code earns violent punishment.
Consequently, Australia have refused to play against Afghanistan in bilateral series since the Taliban seized control, albeit they continue to do so – hypocritically, some say – in ICC tournaments.
During a press conference on Monday, Rob Walter was asked if South Africa should take a similar stance. “To be honest, those decisions are not for me to make,” Walter said. “Ultimately, the heads of CSA decide whether we do or don’t play. That’s the extent of it.”
On Thursday, the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) issued a statement quoting their chief executive, Andrew Breetzke, who sits on the board of the World Cricketers’ Association, as saying: “We urge CSA to utilise the leverage available to it through this series to highlight that… rights for Afghanistan’s women’s players must be protected and respected.”
Also on Thursday, CSA’s chief executive, Pholetsi Moseki, told Cricbuzz: “Our position [on playing against Afghanistan] is the ICC position [that the country’s cricket board shouldn’t be punished for the Taliban’s sins]. It’s also worth noting that Australia are the only country who don’t play against Afghanistan in bilaterals because their government told them so. In fact New Zealand are currently playing a Test against the very same Afghanistan [in Greater Noida, where all five days were washed out by Friday].”
Were those three views from Bavuma’s compatriots at odds with each other? “I’m fully behind the sentiments that are expressed by SACA,” he said. “As a player, I’ve got to respect the fact that there are people in positions who have that responsibility [to decide whether to play against Afghanistan], and to speak more eloquently and articulately about it. In my personal capacity, I definitely support the stance and the sentiments expressed by SACA. And I can understand where Rob is coming from in that we are selected to do a job on the cricket field. A lot of our energy will be dedicated to that.”
GBV is a scourge in South Africa, where more than 10 women were murdered and 159 sexual assaults were reported on average per day last year alone. Many more such crimes would have gone unreported thanks to a lack of trust in the country’s police.
But there are attempts in the country, including by high-profile figures like Kolisi, to fight this evil. That’s not the case in Afghanistan, where gender apartheid is the law of the Taliban’s land.