KATE NEWTON
The Black Caps should go to Zimbabwe because sports and politics should be kept separate, says a black South African who was brought up under the apartheid system.
John Pillay, 43, now a Hastings resident, remembers watching touring sports teams in South Africa, and recalls the joy it brought ruling
whites and the oppressed blacks alike.
Mr Pillay said he would like to see the people of Zimbabwe experience the same enjoyment.
He said the problems faced by Zimbabwe's blacks today were a result of white leadership for so long, and any calls from white Zimbabweans to boycott the tour were ill-founded.
"Zimbabwe's blacks had been oppressed for a long time and the problems faced by the country today were less to do with Mugabe, than about a country coming to grips with itself," he said.
He said he was prompted to make his statements after reading last Friday's Hawke's Bay Today, in which two Zimbabwean ex-pats called on the Government to cancel the August tour.
White Zimbabweans, many of whom had left the country, only wanted the tour cancelled to get back at the blacks for the problems they faced under Mugabe's leadership.
"You can't use sport to do that. People need to know the history of the country and why they are having the problems," he said.
Mr Pillay said there were a lot of Zimbabweans in Hawke's Bay who would like to see the cricket tour go ahead. The Black Caps tour would show the blacks they want to help them, Mr Pillay said.
"The tour could be a chance for New Zealand to inject some money into the poverty stricken country.
"The blacks in Zimbabwe have got nothing against people touring. They would be happy to see tourists and it would show you are not afraid of them."
He said South Africa was lucky to have Nelson Mandela. "It will be difficult to find someone that good again. Zimbabwe needs to find someone who is educated."
He said the Black Caps tour was very different to the 1981 Springbok tour when New Zealanders protested against the all-white South African rugby team.
"There are blacks and whites in the team so it's okay."
Mr Pillay also felt the Zimbabwe cricket team should not be banned from touring New Zealand in December. * An online petition opposing the tour has drawn 1392 votes from around the world. Fourteen Hawke's Bay people have signed the petition.
