Danny Jordaan says South Africans must give new Springbok captain Siya Kolisi the same respect they usually accord to black sports stars from other parts of the world without a fuss.
Kolisi will captain the Boks in the three Tests against England this month and the South African Football Association (Safa) president said SA's first black African skipper must be honored in the same way that Brazil football legend Pele‚ tennis queen Serena Williams‚ Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton and many others are celebrated in this country.
"First of all the striking thing is that everybody celebrated his (Kolisi) appointment and this nonsense about quota players and quota captain has not emerged because he is a starting lineup player‚" Jordaan said.
"I think that‚ and particularly those of us who come from the Eastern Cape‚ would understand that there is no need to refer to black players as quota players because some of the (black) players have been far greater than some of the players who have played in the Springboks and were excluded simply on the basis of their skin colour.
"You talk about Peter Mkata‚ everybody will tell that Peter Mkata was far greater or a better flyhalf than anyone in this country.
"And now that these players are given an opportunity to compete equally and play and eventually get into the team‚ they must carry a different label?"
The Safa president said South Africans still obsess too much about skin colour and they end up attaching labels to athletes.
"We are the only country that has this obsession that the darker the skin the less the intellectual capacity and the less the athletic ability - it is just not true‚" he said.
"We celebrate a Usain Bolt‚ we celebrate every other black athlete. We celebrate (Serena) Williams in tennis‚ Lewis Hamilton in motor racing‚ Jonah Lomu and all other players.
"Black athletes that we celebrate‚ the Peles we celebrate but when it comes to South Africa and there is a great black athlete‚ we must find some other designation to label him or her.
"It is just something that this country must move away from.
"We must celebrate Kolisi as a captain and I am sure that not only has he got the ability as a player‚ but he also has leadership qualities. He's a leader."
The Boks host England in the first Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on June 9 followed by Tests in Bloemfontein on June 16 and finally at Newlands in Cape Town on June 23.
The South Africans were no great shakes under former coach Allister Coetzee and Jordaan said it is significant that Kosili is taking over at a low point in Springbok rugby.
"They (Springboks) lost to everybody‚ including Italy and other smaller countries‚" he said.
"And now (Kolisi) takes it over from that low and I'm sure he's going to rise up the performances of the team right into the Rugby World Cup‚" Jordaan said.
"It would be wonderful for this country if he were to lead South African rugby into a Rugby World Cup and in a Rugby WorldCup.
"So I want to wish him all the best and we are all proud of him.
"He has suffered his own bad experiences with the South African public‚ those who still have one foot in the past and another foot in the present."..