Minister Coltart should get his priorities right

Financial Gazette
Letters to the Editor
Thursday, 07 May 2009

EDITOR — When David Coltart was sworn in as Education, Sport and Culture Minister, there were mixed reactions.

Some pinned their hopes on him reviving Zimbabwe’s education sector, which is in tatters; others hoped he would change the direction of national sports — including his beloved cricket.

While it is too early to judge Coltart, it is not too early to see his interest in dabbling in the politics of cricket, the discipline he said is his favourite in an interview with a local weekly — exactly a week after being sworn in on February 13.

When Coltart took oath of office with others and on February 20, he was one of the first “new brooms” to get lucky with generous coverage in the newspapers — albeit stemming from the euphoria that greeted the formation of the inclusive government.

Now that the euphoria has died down and that 100 days in the job have passed, it is time that Coltart be reminded that he has a Herculean task of sorting things in his ministry.

What has prompted me to write this letter is the verve which is quite evident in the Minister who has continued to remind people how he wants Zimbabwe’s cricket to be.

Coltart has been on radio and promised sweeping reforms at this former minority sport which has become inclusive following its expansion into the black community. There is no doubt in my mind that the Minister has biased and pre-conceived ideas in his push for changes at the Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC).

“I’m a passionate supporter of Zimbabwe cricket. I try to watch every game they play. But the demise of our team in the last five years has been a cause of great distress. I look forward to playing a role in the rehabilitation of our cricket. Nothing will give me greater satisfaction,” Coltart declared in his first interview.

There is nothing wrong with him being passionate about the sport, but there is everything wrong with him clearly showing the “urgency” that needs to be placed in reforming cricket.

His statements clearly show that he has cricket uppermost in his mind ahead of more popular sporting disciplines such as the world-appealing football. It does not take a fool to realise that the Minister believes that by getting involved personally in a sport he holds personal affection, he can restore pride and glory, easily.

Given the problems that have been reported at ZC and the resistance in the past by minority players to have black players included, I think Coltart is starting his examination of sports badly.

One would expect the honourable Minister to have, by now, held a sports indaba with administrators and spelling out his plan for our various sporting disciplines.

Football fans want to see a change to the bickering that has been deep-seated in the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) even though on the surface everything appears normal.

There is no doubt that football is the biggest sport and logically one would expect big attention to a big brand like football. Cricket cannot, therefore, be at the forefront of Coltart’s priorities unless he is rushing to fulfill promises made to comrades enamored with the sport. This is my bone of contention.
Coltart should strive to gain the confidence of everyone, not a few disgruntled former white players who think by having him as Minister he can easily influence or change the direction of the sport willy-nilly without resistance.

By writing this letter, I am also expressing my disappointment with Minister Coltart because of his lack of respect for other issues relating to sports and culture that needs attention.

While he may have touched on few other issues, the said article and a recent radio interview with Hugo Ribatika, leave me with an impression that he has dirty hands in his approach to solving the problems at ZC.

I don’t think the Minister has held meetings either with the ZC board or management to clarify issues that he continues to raise in public. If he hasn’t done that, surely then, he lacks leadership skills or worse still, he has already tried and judged the people at the helm of this sport, which is now competing to become number two sport after football.

A leader of clear intentions does not wash his dirty linen in public neither does he pre-empt his motives in a newspaper article or radio programme.

Instead of focusing on cricket, Coltart, by now, would have signaled his intentions of reviving boxing where we still hold memories of the late Proud “Kilimanjaro” Chinembiri, exciting Langton “Schoolboy” Tinago, Stix Macloud, Zvenyika Alfonso and Nokuthula Tshabangu, among others.

By now, the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC), Amateur Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (AAAZ), Tennis Association of Zimbabwe (TAZ) and many others, would have been in the picture of what the future holds.

Even the forgotten Bowling Association would love to hear what the Minister has in store for them. In the 1980s, this was a sport that brought many accolades to Zimbabwe.

The expectations do not end in sport only.

It would have been hoped that by now Coltart would have met artistes and recording companies to address problems rocking the music industry as well as meeting with the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (ZIMRA).

It is also in the interest of the cultural groups to have audience with the Minister and spell out their concerns particularly the drummer Vambe, who is still battling the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) on claims of originating the drumbeat that features in all news bulletins.

Recording companies by now would have had a clear picture of how the Minister will navigate around issues of politicisation of recording deals and barbs received from musicians who blame them for not marketing their products. The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ), like others, is waiting to hear from the new man on the block.

Sadly, the Minister chose cricket as an entry point where his construction of the problems that are at ZC is wrong! Coltart believes that by including white cricketers, who are flourishing elsewhere in Europe because of better economies, will put the glitter back on cricket.

“When I look at Sean Ervine’s average at Hampshire, I say to myself here is a guy who should be playing for us. We need guys like that back.

“We need someone like Andy Flower to come back and coach our national team. The encouraging thing about cricket is that we can reclaim our former glory very quickly,” Coltart said in The Zimbabwe Independent of February 20. He said Zimbabwe could return to the Test arena sooner than anticipated.
“Subject to us addressing concerns over accounts in ZC, and subject to us getting all our players back to choose the best team, it is not impossible to get back our Test status as soon as possible. We have to get politics and racism out of sports and start to perform.”

He believes that by inspecting the ZC books, which have been okayed by a world reputable accounting firm, KPMG, and having the former players back, will make Zimbabwe play Test cricket again, but at the same time appears not know anything regarding the books at the ZC.

“I don’t know precisely what the situation is there. I have read the allegations and the defences. I want to know the truth and make recommendations to Cabinet. I certainly want to have sight of the reports.

“I don’t want to speculate and rely on rumour. I stand for transparency. Unless there is transparency in our sports bodies, we will continue to under-perform. Ineffectiveness affects ability to perform,” he remarked.

There are certain things that the Minister needs to know when dealing with sports people. Coltart must realise that sports fans want to see a representation in almost every discipline that reflects the population of the country. This is practiced, followed and adhered to everywhere in the world.

The West Indies cricket side is like that, England, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kenya, New Zealand and Pakistan all follow that route.

In Zimbabwe, with him at the helm, people would expect the same where blacks dominate the various sporting disciplines including cricket, which is no longer a minority sport.

I would love to see Andy Flower back, but to support the current players and staff that exist at the ZC. As for coaching, he has set his sights on England and am sure he will relish the challenge that comes with his job.

The same thing applies to our football, I would love to see Bruce Grobbelaar return to the Warriors in some capacity to help us revive the sport. We have seen this happening in South Africa.

But when the black majority demand a larger slice of the cake, they are often labelled racists yet nine out of 10 times, it would be a lie. It happened in SA recently.

When a South African legislator demanded that the national rugby side, The Springboks, change its symbol or emblem, there was an outcry from white South African fans.

“The Springboks divide us. We have a responsibility to unite our country on one national emblem . . . I want you to observe the arrogance of white people over the Springboks emblem,” said the controversial chairman of SA Parliament’s sports portfolio committee Butana Komphela.
The reaction showed resistance and stoked up racial fires.

“Many people now see Mandela’s gesture (of reconciliation at the 1995 World Cup final) as a mistake,” Qasim Bhorat, a team doctor for the Soweto Rugby Club, was quoted as saying in an article in the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

“This is the last stand of the Afrikaner. They believe rugby belongs to them and they don’t want to give it up.”

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers became the first black South African to coach the national team. His appointment followed an outcry by African National Congress (ANC) officials who demanded that there be more blacks in the rugby side. Some unhappy white players, six months later, blackmailed the coach after he intended to drop one player from his team.

The Weekender reported that de Villiers was the victim of a blackmail attempt over player selections. The blackmail attempt allegedly involved an official and a player who were threatening to release damning video footage of his sexual escapades to the media if the player was dropped from the Springboks squad.

So Minister Coltart has his work cut out in trying to restore pride, competency and glory to our beleaguered sports. He has to tread carefully if expects good results in Sports and Culture.
In Education, teachers are still wary of him, but will soon find him a thorough professional but in sport — it could be a minefield.

Guthrie Munyuki
Harare