Daniel "Cheeky" Watson (born 1954) was one of the first white South African rugby union players to participate in a mixed race rugby game, during the period when mixed-race activities were forbidden by apartheid legislation.

History

Watson grew up on a farm near Somerset East, in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

province of South Africa. His father was a lay preacher who taught his sons Daniel, Valence, Ronald, and Gavin that all people are equal. Watson attended Graeme College boarding school in Grahamstown, where he began playing rugby union. He later captained the Graeme College side. After completing compulsory National Service, Watson returned to

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

, where he played for the Crusaders Rugby Club. As a 21-year-old, Watson played for the Eastern Province team which lost by 28 points to 13 to the visiting All Blacks in 1976. Mona Badela, black journalist and president of the KwaZakhele Rugby Union (Kwaru), invited him to practise his Christian convictions by coaching a black side in the townships. When Watson took the black rugby team to practise at the Saint George's sports ground in Port Elizabeth, they met with strong opposition. Watson was selected as a wing for the Junior Springboks in 1976. However he declined an invitation to participate in the trails for the 1976 senior Springbok team. He joined the

Spring Rose Rugby Football Club Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

in the black township of New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, which was affiliated with Kwaru. His wing partner was

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, later manager of the 2007 Springbok squad On 10 October 1976, Watson and Valence played with 13 black players for Kwaru against the South Eastern Districts Rugby Union (Sedru) in the

Dan Qeqe Dan Dumile Qeqe (died 2005) was a prominent sports administrator who struggled to establish non-racial sport in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. When the Bantu Administration Board denied him access for black teams to sports grounds, he r ...

stadium in KwaZakhele township. Local authorities and the Crusaders Rugby Club tried to dissuade him from participating Inter-racial sports meetings were at that time prohibited in terms of the apartheid-era Group Areas Act and the

Separate Amenities Act Separate Amenities Act, Act No 49 of 1953, formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa. The Act legalized the racial segregation of public premises, vehicles and services. Only public roads and streets were exclude ...

. Armored vehicles circled the stadium, and Watson and brother Valence had to lie flat on the floor of a taxi that transported black Africans. The black rugby team regularly stayed in the Watson's home. By 1978 the Watson family had been drawn into the anti-apartheid struggle, with dual membership in the then-banned African National Congress and South African Communist Party. Brother Ronnie reportedly gathered intelligence for such organisations The Watsons were subsequently threatened, ostracised, and shot at. Their home was burned down in 1986,. Friends stopped visiting, either because they were being threatened by authorities, or because they disagreed with the Watsons' political stance.

Eastern Province Rugby Union

Watson is a business consultant and was the president of the

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based in Port Elizabeth, which operates the Eastern Province Elephants Currie Cup team and is also the co-owner of the Southern Kings team which was launched in June 2009 and will play

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

from 2013 onwards. In February 2017 Watson stepped down from his role as president of the EPRU. The EPRU’s affairs had been placed into the administrative control of SA Rugby - at the union’s invitation - in April 2016 to help regularise the union’s financial affairs. Under Watson as president, the EPRU plunged into a financial crisis in 2015, with the union unable to pay players’ salaries; players were forced to accept food vouchers following the non-payment of salaries. SA Rugby was eventually forced to step in and take control of the union which was eventually liquidated.

Arrest on charges of fraud

On 31 March 2017 Watson and three others were arrested for fraud and appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court where they were released on bail. Their arrests come after an investigation by the Hawks into money laundering and corruption related to the

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality ( af, Nelson Mandelabaai Metropolitaanse Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Nelson Mandela Bay or ''uMasipala waseBhayi'') is one of eight metropolitan municipalities (also called Category A municipalities) in So ...

Public Transport System.

Involvement in the career of his son, Luke Watson

Daniel Watson's son

Luke Watson Luke Asher Watson (born 26 October 1983 in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth) is a South African former rugby union footballer who can play at flank or eighthman. He has represented and captained the South African Schools rugby team ...

is also a rugby union footballer. Although he had many supporters in 2006, he was overlooked for selection by the 2007 World Cup winning Bok coach Jake White. Watson attributed his son's non-selection to be due to his political activities a generation earlier. Luke Watson was imposed on the 2007 Springbok squad as a result of a direct order from SARU against the wishes of the Springbok selectors. In 2007 Watson stated he would not be supporting the Springboks at the World Cup in Paris because he did not believe the team was representative of the country. He also refused to comment on whether he supported John Smit as the captain. Watson has since told South African newspapers that son Luke never wanted to play for the Springboks under White. Watson Snr also boycotted his son's capping ceremony, in protest against Coach White’s attitude towards his son. On Monday 23 April 2012 the South African Presidency announced that Daniel Watson would be awarded the National Order of Ikhamanga in Silver for "his exceptional contribution to the field of sport, in particular rugby”. The South African government said Watson would be recognised for his excellent contribution towards the creation of non-racial rugby and his stand in the struggle for the creation of a non- racial, non-sexist and democratic society.

Sources

* * Clinton van der Berg and Lauren Cohen. "The gospel according to Luke", ''Sunday Times Online'', 20 May 2007. *

References