Independent review for Ashwin incident

Ashwin Willemse, Nick Mallett and Naas Botha will not appear on SuperSport this Saturday.

Willemse walked off the SuperSport set during a live discussion with Mallett and Botha after the Lions’ win against the Brumbies last Saturday. He accused the duo of undermining him.

After meeting with the trio on Monday, SuperSport CEO Gideon Khobane said the incident had not been racially motivated.

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SuperSport released the following statement on Friday:

‘We have had discussions this week with all parties in an effort to resolve this matter amicably and expeditiously.

‘Despite good progress initially, the matter has unfortunately not been resolved. We have therefore decided to instruct an independent senior counsel, Advocate Vincent Maleka SC, to chair a review of the incident which occurred and to make recommendations to our management.

‘Pending the outcome of the review, the three presenters involved will not appear on-air. None of the presenters have been suspended and they will continue to be remunerated in terms of their contracts.

‘We are committed to getting to the bottom of this serious issue. Advocate Maleka SC has been asked to make findings and recommendations by Monday, 11 June 2018.’