Following the murder of Joubert Conradie in a farm attack in the Western Cape, friend and colleague, Chris Loubser issued an impassioned plea earlier this week for fellow South Africans to stand together and dress in black on Monday, 30 October 2017.
Zietsman Oosthuizen contacted the Sporting Post to say that the Kimberley racing community has chosen to join the initiative started by Loubser in the call for a national ‘Black Monday’ to commemorate those who have lost their lives in farm attacks.
Zietsman explained, “My father is a farmer. I’ve been a farm boy all my life. Bill, Phillip, Dennis are all still active farmers. Guys like Corrie, Jannie and Billy all grew up on farms. Many of us come from farming backgrounds. Bill Human’s brother-in-law, Poem Lambrecht, was murdered on his farm last year and many of the rest of us have also been affected personally by these murders and we want to do something to show our support.”
The NHA has advised that while jockeys are not permitted to join the initiative, there is nothing in the rules to prevent anyone else from dressing in black as long as they still conform to the parade ring dress code, so the Kimberley training community has all pledged to wear black on Monday afternoon.
“Everyone is in,” confirms Zietsman, “All the Kimberley trainers are standing together to support this cause. It’s not about age, or race, or gender, or even restricted to a specific area of the country – this is something that touches all of us.”
