Party takes Saru to court over Springbok selection

Johannesburg - A relatively unknown party, Agency for New Agenda (ANA), will head to the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday in a bid to have the composition of the Springbok rugby team declared racially biased.

ANA leader Tshidiso Mokhoanatse is taking the South African Rugby Union (Saru) to court over what he says was the racially skewed composition of the Springbok team selected to go to Britain to compete in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

"The pay-off line of the Springboks is honour and heritage. Whose heritage? Which heritage are they going to promote? Behind the facade of the national team is a scheme to exclude our people," he told News24 on Monday.

Mokhoanatse rejected coach Heyneke Meyer’s statement that 30% representation had been achieved by including nine black players in the squad. It was still not representative of the country’s demographics, he said.

"They had 21 years to fix whatever. I won’t entertain the debate on skill."

The party was founded in 2013 and initially called South Africa First.