Daniel "Cheeky" Watson (born 1954) was one of the first white South African

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

players to participate in a mixed race rugby game, during the period when mixed-race activities were forbidden by

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

legislation.

History

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

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

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 Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

, where he began playing

. He later captained the Graeme College side. After completing compulsory National Service, Watson returned to

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially 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 Municipal ...

, 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 The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

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 in the black township of New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, which was affiliated with Kwaru. His wing partner was Zola Yeye, 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 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 Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a syste ...

and the Separate Amenities Act. 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 The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

and

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

. 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 Eastern Province Rugby Union based in Port Elizabeth, which operates the Eastern Province Elephants

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

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 Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and othe ...

into money laundering and corruption related to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Public Transport System.

Involvement in the career of his son, Luke Watson

Daniel Watson's son Luke Watson is also a rugby union footballer. In 2007 Watson senior 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.

Order of Ikhamanga

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. He is 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Cheeky 1954 births South African rugby union players People from Blue Crane Route Local Municipality Living people Alumni of Graeme College Rugby union and apartheid Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga South African people of British descent White South African anti-apartheid activists South African anti-apartheid activists Sportspeople from Somerset East Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape Eastern Province Elephants players