BARNEY MTHOMBOTHI: The Australians have some great cricketers. Not all of them are great human beings
'Why is Nathan Lyon, who deliberately dropped the ball on a sprawled AB de Villiers, still there? And why is Mitchell Marsh still playing after calling Rabada the c-word?'
Until a few days ago few South Africans had not heard of Peter Dutton, Australia's home affairs minister. They'd even be hard-pressed to name the country's prime minister. Now Dutton's name is almost a swear word. Dutton, who comes across as a cranky rightwinger, said he was thinking of fast-tracking visas for white farmers from South Africa. They deserved special attention, he said, because of the "horrific circumstances" of land seizures and the killing of white farmers in this country. The reaction from the South African government was a tantrum. Lindiwe Sisulu, our new foreign minister, demanded an apology and retraction. What if the Australians don't oblige? Are we going to break off diplomatic relations?We should calm down. As our chief diplomat, Sisulu should know that her job is to make friends and not create mountains out of molehills. As Winston Churchill would say, diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in a way that they ask for directions. Writer Robin Hob...
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