The final part of Aphiwe Dyantyi’s hearing into a doping offence has been reconvened for 3 and 4 November, writes CRAIG LEWIS.
In mid-September, the Springbok wing’s long-awaited hearing got under way, just over a year after news first broke that Dyantyi’s mandatory B sample had come back testing positive for three banned substances following a national training camp.
The initial hearing date was postponed due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, and although proceedings finally did start in September, the matter was then adjourned after three days.
READ: Wait goes on for Dyantyi
It’s now been confirmed to SARugbymag.co.za that the hearing will restart in early November, which could provide long-awaited finality on the future of Dyantyi, who has been out of action since the shock announcement came just a couple of months before he was hoping to compete for a place in the Springboks’ World Cup squad.
Dyantyi, the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of 2018, subsequently released a statement in which he denied taking any banned substances, and there will now be a final opportunity for the 13-cap Springbok to present his defence.
The matter is deemed as ‘part heard’, which is when proceedings have started but are adjourned to another date, and as a result no further details can be disclosed until the hearing is concluded next month.
READ: Dyantyi opens up about anxiety
In a candid interview with Sport24 in September, Dyantyi for the first time opened up about some of the emotional turmoil he went through in the period after his positive finding became public.
‘I didn’t have social media in those quiet months – I just deleted everything. You go on your phone and it’s “Aphiwe this, Springbok that, World Cup this”, and at some point, I just couldn’t deal with it. It just got too much,’ he explained.
‘It was a way for me to try protect myself. That could have driven me to do anything … the worst. I withdrew because I felt that if there’s any chance of me surviving, I just needed to be by myself.
‘My family didn’t see me and I was probably holed up in the house for two months.’
