Cricket South Africa director of cricket Graeme Smith has received death threats recently.
Smith and CSA have faced plenty of criticism amid the Black Lives Movement, particularly since the inaugural 3TC Solidarity Cup in mid-July 2020.
“It has shocked me how heated things have got. I get that in South Africa we’ve got so many issues and in some ways it has felt like we are bearing the brunt for government not having delivered on a number of things over the years and the frustration of that,” said Smith during a webinar hosted by financial services group PSG.
“You pick up the paper or you click online and you all see all the negativity and the disappointment and the frustration in people’s lives and livelihoods being affected, so it has been a tough period.
“All of us have found ourselves in a really heated space. We have taken an immense amount of abuse, death threats.”
Former Proteas Makhaya Ntini, Monde Zondeki, Thami Tsolekile, Robin Peterson, JP Duminy and Alviro Petersen have been outspoken during the Black Lives Matter movement. Smith captained all six during a 12-year Test career from 2002 to 2014.