Mohammed Moosajee has criticised the current Proteas set-up for not having a united stance on Black Lives Matter and raised concerns about the quota system.

Proteas players have a choice to observe BLM in a manner that is comfortable for them, whether it’s by taking a knee, raising a fist or standing at attention.

This has disappointed Moosajee, who was the Proteas team manager from 2008 until 2019, while also serving as the team doctor from 2003.

“It is a pity that the Proteas team has not adopted a unified approach to the issue and highlights that even though we have been having discussions for a number of years already, these discussions need to continue,”  said Moosajee while testifying at CSA’s Social Justice and Nation Building hearings on Wednesday.

“We still have some way to go to get all our people to fully appreciate the injustices of the past. Unfortunately, some current players appear to be misinformed and believe taking the knee is supporting the notion that black lives matter more.

“They need to be educated so that they appreciate that taking the knee is all about a stand against racism and discrimination and supporting the notion that black lives matter as much.”

Moosajee also gave his opinion on ‘quotas’ or ‘targets’ in South African cricket.

He said while the quota system had given “opportunities to people of colour and many of them proved that they could be world-class performers on the international stage” it had the “unintended consequences” of relying on elite schools to produce players and leaving underprivileged areas in a state of neglect while also creating a comfort zone for players.

He said: “Certain players had become ‘undroppable’ because their inclusion in a team is necessary to meet the quotas/targets.

“A few of these players allowed their fitness levels to wane and were guilty of disciplinary misdemeanours, but these misdemeanours went unpunished, because there were concerns that the quotas/targets would not be met.”

Moosajee revealed that former Proteas fast bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe had never passed any of the 15 skin-folds tests he had and failed numerous yo-yo fitness tests.

“As opposed to being discriminated against for being black, Mr Tsotsobe benefited from being black. An example of this is when he was initially left out of the Proteas squad for the 2013 tour to Sri Lanka.

“At the time, [coach] Russell Domingo was quoted in the media as saying he had massive concerns about Lopsy’s form, fitness and possibly his work ethic.

“The decision to leave Mr Tsotsobe out of the touring squad was reversed by the CSA board, as there were no other black African cricketers in the touring squad.”

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