Veteran advocate Wim Trengove, SC, widely regarded as one of the country’s top silks, is to chair an inquiry into matric pupil and Junior Proteas captain David Teeger, who dedicated a recent award to “young soldiers who are fighting for Israel in the war against Hamas”.
Teeger, head boy at acclaimed King Edward VII School in Gauteng, is alleged to have made the “provocative, biased and inflammatory” remarks when he received the Rising Star accolade at the Absa Jewish Achiever awards last month.
This prompted an official complaint by the Palestine Solidarity Alliance and the Abu Asvat Institute for Nation Building to Sascoc, Cricket South Africa and Gauteng Lions Cricket.
PSA has called for his immediate suspension from the team for what they say are “prejudiced comments unbecoming of a national team captain”.
According to a South African Jewish Report article by Hanna Resnick on October 26 2023 about Teeger, he said: “Yes, I’ve been [given] this award, and yes, I’m now the Rising Star, but the true rising stars are the young soldiers in Israel.” He added: “And I’d like to dedicate it to the state of Israel and every single soldier fighting so that we can love and thrive in the diaspora.”
In its complaint the PSA said:
- “It is alarming that Teeger, the selected captain of the South African U19 cricket team, can see it fit to honour those partaking in the genocidal war against the Palestinian people. His unambiguous blind support for war and the bellicose side at that, demonstrates an indifference to the suffering of innocent civilians of Gaza who have lost their homes, livelihood, family members and lives as a direct result of the actions of those soldiers that he admires. It is atrocious that someone chosen to lead a national sports team can be so callous and prejudiced, especially given our history of struggle against racism and inequality in all aspects of our lives, including sport.
- That we are concerned that his comments are subversive as he openly contradicts the position of the government, which has sided with justice and in turn the victims of this decades-long colonial occupation of Palestine by the Jewish Zionist state.
- That David Teeger can so brazenly heroise soldiers that are liable for gross war crimes is disturbing, especially coming from someone assigned to captain the South African national under-19 cricket team.
- That David Teeger has pinned his allegiance with those who are responsible for and those who defend the war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide that are being committed by Israel. We note with condemnation that he has aligned himself with the apartheid state of Israel and its military and raise concern that this political positioning places him in direct opposition to our government who have referred those very persons that he honours to the International Criminal Court of Justice for prosecution.”
They called for Teeger to be immediately suspended from representing the Gauteng Lions and the U19 cricket team at the World Cup, which was originally slated to be held in Sri Lanka, but will now be hosted in SA in January.
On Saturday, CSA said it appointed an independent inquiry to be heard by Trengove, who has been involved in many human rights issues, including arguing for the abolition of the death penalty, the rollout of land restitution policies and the rollout of ARV treatment for people with HIV.
He has made his mark in many leading constitutional cases. Most recently, he has acted for the state in various skirmishes with former president Jacob Zuma in relation to the arms-deal related corruption trial.
However, the SA Jewish Board of Deputies slated the CSA’s inquiry as an attempt to “bully” the schoolboy.
Prof Karen Milner, SAJBD national chair, said: “It would be a very sad day in our country if SA citizens were deprived of their constitutional rights to appease people with political agendas. This campaign to intimidate Jewish South Africans and all supporters of Israel infringes on our precious right to freedom of speech.
“It is ironic that the toxic and dangerous rhetoric being bandied about by some political leaders in our country goes unchallenged, while a schoolboy, speaking at a Jewish community event where he was receiving a Rising Star award, is bullied into toeing a specific line on international relations policy.”
Teeger’s comments have fractured the cricketing community. There are many who feel offended by what he said and don’t want to play with or against him. This is not freedom of speech, but it is hurtful.
— PSA’s Naazim Adam
Freedom of Expression Institute executive director Samkelo Mokhine said the CSA’s inquiry will look into whether the cricketer’s comments “fell foul of their code of conduct”.
“At present the dispute seems restricted to whether a South African national cricket squad captain signed up but failed to adhere to a code of conduct, prohibiting comment on matters of a particular nature, which an ordinary non-national sporting code individual and leader is not prohibited from doing.
“If the PSA had lodged a complaint based on hate speech, then it would be looked at through the freedom of expression lens. If Teeger had also refused to sign up to the code of conduct on the basis of it nullifying his free expression rights, then the freedom of expression lens would be applied,” he said.
PSA’s Naazim Adam said, while they welcomed the probe by Trengove to assess whether Teeger violated the cricket body’s code of conduct and rules and regulations as it was due process, they were “concerned” to hear about it via the media.
“CSA didn’t engage with us to discuss the terms of reference of the inquiry and our complaint. It is also not just the PSA who has complained but also three Gauteng-based clubs, as well as the Abu Asvat Institute. It is broader than us,” he said.
Adam said it was also important for the minister of sport to deal with this issue at a broader level.
“Teeger’s comments have fractured the cricketing community. There are many who feel offended by what he said and don’t want to play with or against him. This is not freedom of speech, but it is hurtful.
“When you wear the national badge, you are a representative of the country, and there are definitive roles of what they can articulate in this position that needed to be decided,” said Adam.
Alli Osmany from the Abu Asvat Institute said: “It does not bode well for our national team if the matter is not dealt with properly and with the urgency it requires.
“We may well find teams refusing to play with the national Under-19 team if David Teeger remains a member of the team. Cricket South Africa cannot be seen to harbour supporters of an apartheid state, let alone its transgressions of international law.”
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