You'd think Springbok fans would be delighted with their record victory over England at Twickenham - but the football gun to the head of SA Rugby has soured things substantially.

National sports are peculiar to countries and cultures around the world in a random manner hopefully NOT free for governments to tamper with.

India has cricket. They're cricket mad. New Zealand has rugby. The s eat, sleep and drink The list goes on through football, baseball, basketball and so on and so on...

South Africa is no different but we do have a peculiar legacy thanks to our multi-cultural, multi-racial make-up which I think should be ringing alarm bells.

I'll explain: South Africa has football, cricket and rugby. These are the most popular national sports, probably in that order of importance and popularity.

Their racial spread is tricky. Football has been monopolised by 'the people' while rugby, traditionally reserved for elite schools, has had to transform to the racial demographic of South Africa today.

The road for this process is long for ALL sports developing equality in the post-Apartheid South Africa.

Football cannot be said to be doing any better than cricket or rugby, because the truth is, each sport still has majorities and minorities.

In South Africa, many white Africans have a culture intertwined with rugby and cricket. It's a fact. These fans are not the greatest football supporters, although fanatism of sports in general is not uncommon.

I think the same could be said of Australia, New Zealand, India or England. A devout cricket fan might NOT be a great rugby fan and a fan devoted to football might not like rugby. That's life!

Hopefully we're free to choose - and free agency is a basic right.

But that's NOT true in South Africa today. The South African government's manipulation of television broadcasting is well documented and now that South Africa are hosting the FIFA Football World Cup in 2010, they've decided to close the rugby and cricket taps in order to promote football.

I think it's criminal. A clear abuse of power and a form of social engineering.

On Saturday, football was broadcast on ALL the regular South African channels and the rugby match between England and the Springboks didn't even get mentioned on the SABC News. Not even the score.

Considering the economics involved and all the social implications, I'm left devastated (and powerless).

Soon South Africa will be a 100% football country and if this continues rugby and cricket will be strangled into extinction. Not very fair or responsible, is it?