JOHANNESBURG: Former South African captain Faf du Plessis on Friday came out in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and said a comment he made in January that ‘we don’t see colour’ had been a mistake. The BLM issue has shown up racial divisions in South African cricket, with 30 black former international players claiming earlier this week that racism remained a factor in the game, 29 years after the formation of a single controlling body.
Du Plessis, who resigned as captain of the national team in February but remains available as a player, said in an Instagram post that his support for BLM came at a time when there were many injustices in South Africa. “If we wait only for the ones that attack us personally, we will always live for ‘my way versus your way’ and that way leads us nowhere,” he said.
Some white South Africans, including former players, have linked the BLM issue with the murder of white farmers, claiming that all lives matter.\ “I’ve remained silent, with the intent to listen, but not respond,” said du Plessis. “Slowing down my point of view, but quicker to hear the pain of someone else. – Agencies