That Siya Kolisi Book Is Becoming Somewhat Toxic

[imagesource:here]

Before Siya Kolisi lifted the William Webb Ellis trophy in Yokohama last year (today is day 299 of 1 449 as world champions, breathe it in), and became an icon around the world, his story was already relatively well-known.

Stories from his younger years, growing up in the Zwide township in Port Elizabeth, were well documented, as were his school days at Grey PE.

Those stories usually came from his own retellings, which wasn’t the case with Jeremy Daniel’s book, published in August last year.

At the time, Siya made it clear that the book was not written with his participation or consent (‘unauthorised’ is the popular term), but now Rachel Kolisi is taking a stand against both Daniel and the book’s publishers, Jonathan Ball Publishers.

Here’s her post in full:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Today I’ll be delegating to #SaveSiyasStory There was a book written about Siyas life without his consent. It was released during the World Cup and we HAD a agent at the time who advised us not to take it further, and legally we had no foot to stand on. The book is written by @jeremydaniel51 and published by @jonathanballpublishers Many of you will know I’ve beeeen talking about this, we thought the book had died out with the announcement of Siyas ACTUAL book told by him on the way! Until last night someone messaged me saying they can’t wait to read “the new book” to our horror we see they have released a “updated version of the unauthorized book” Siya has gone through so many struggles some, you might know about and some you have no idea. But the story is HIS to tell. Siya has not benefited from this unauthorized book in ANYWAY. And I would appreciate your help on calling this out for what it is. WHITE MEN benefiting off the back of a BLACK MAN. We want @jonathanballpublishers to stop printing any and all copies of this book, book stores and online sites not to support the selling of these books. Remove any and ALL marketing material. Ps. Please avoid using the covers and title of the unauthorized book (it will only give it more exposure) Can you please help me get the word out.

A post shared by Rachel Kolisi (@rachel_kolisi) on Aug 26, 2020 at 10:40pm PDT

The updated version of Daniel’s book features Siya holding aloft the World Cup trophy, with the words “an unauthorised biography” visible in the top right corner.

As per usual, discussions on social media have been informed and nuanced.

Jokes, they’ve been rather polarised, with some saying that by virtue of being a public figure, you will have books written about you, with or without your participation.

For the most part, however, it seems that Rachel’s message has resonated with South Africans.

At the time of writing, Jonathan Ball Publishers has yet to release a statement, and Daniel has also been quiet on social media.

UPDATE:  The publishing house has now released a statement, reports Sport24:

Jeremy Boraine, publishing director at Jonathan Ball, has confirmed that the book will continue to appear on shelves.

“We’ve taken note of their unhappiness though we’re not withdrawing the book,” he told Sport24 on Friday. “As publisher, Jonathan Ball believes we’ve done nothing wrong.”

Boraine noted that the practice of producing unauthorised biographies is “hardly unusual”, with Jonathan Ball boasting an impressive portfolio of comprehensive if unofficial books…

Read that full story here.

[source:iol]