The Transcript of the Hansie Cronje Interview - Part I

Mike Bertha, how tough have the last few months been for you?

Bertha: It has been tough, for both Hansie and myself and our families, it hasn’t been easy but with the bad comes the good and we’ve spend some time together, which was wonderful, it brought the family closer and our faith deepened, I think.

Marianne: So Bertha you said your faith has grown through this whole experience, how did the church and the church members react to this whole deal?

Bertha: This is one of the amazing things Marianne, that the people have been absolutely wonderful which I think is a miracle. We’ve had so many support letters, and words of encouragement, people praying for us, we’ve had faxes, we’ve got two suitcases full of letters and emails and it has been amazing and wonderful.

Mike: What about the negatives, I’m sure you also had the odd phone call that perturbed you, maybe the odd comment on the street, did that sort of come forward as well?

Bertha: Not from people outside, no, I think the newspapers were the most disturbing to us but no, we haven’t had one call, one letter that was not wonderful.

Marianne: Just remind us again, the first time that you found out, how did it happen and how did it make you feel?

Bertha: I had a very early morning wake-up call, I can't even remember the date, its been such a hectic time the last couple of months, I can't exactly remember when Hansie phoned me, but it was that morning very early, it was wonderful that my folks were here, they were on holiday at Kempton on Sea and they came down, so I wasn’t all by myself which was wonderful. I’ve had so many emotions over the last few months that its very difficult to remember how exactly I felt that morning, all I remember, I think I was very calm when I spoke to Hansie on the phone.

Mike: Bertha, what was the conversation, what did Hansie tell you.

Bertha: I can't exactly remember his words but he said that he wasn’t hundered percent honest with me and then he told me that he actually was involved or that he did speak to these people, the whole story you know by now.

Mike: Bertha, did you have any inkling before the phone call from Hansie that there was anything wrong?

Bertha: No, no ...

Mike: So, when the story first broke, Hansie obviously told you that, as he told everyone, that there was nothing in it, ...

Bertha: Yes, yes ...

Mike: And you were totally behind him and suddenly the big shock.

Bertha: Yes, it was quite a shock, I mean, I’m still behind him.

Mike: Was there ever time when things got a little bit dodgy in your relationship, in your marriage, was there ever a time that maybe this got between the two of you and you thought of perhaps splitting up?

Bertha: No, no, you mean after this story? No. There’s never been such a time, no. We’ve made a commitment to each other five years ago, and its a sacred covenant and no, we never thought of doing that.

Marianne: Now, Hansie has mentioned that he was interested in starting a family, what are your thoughts on that?

Bertha: I don’t know where he get that from, no, but a, no, we definitely would like to have some children someday but no, not in the near future.

Marianne: I mean, one day when you do have children, I mean its obviously going to be important for you to share with them, this whole experience. How are you going to approach them?

Hansie: I don't think its when you are going to run to the scrapbooks and try and get scrapbooks out and let them know exactly what went on but I think its also good that you can tell them about your experiences and tell them what to stay away from and what to get involved in and what not to get involved in. And you know, I don’t think anyone is perfect in this world, we all have our mistakes and our problems, and at least they will be able to learn from my mistakes.

Mike: Hansie, we spoke to you about your friends and obviously your former teammates, you kept in contact with a couple of them and obviously you had great support from friends and family. Bertha, what about your friends, did you find that there was perhaps a bit of a void for a while before people got the courage to get in contact with you or did they provide the support on the phone straight away and specifically maybe Hansie’s former teammates wife’s and girlfriends?

Bertha: All of them have been wonderful, I had quite a few calls from his teammates wife’s and girlfriends and they’ve been all wonderful, my friends, I’ve got amazing friends, and they’ve all contacted me and supported me and were there for me and, no, they were ready and offered their friendship and their love and their support and their prayers and encouragement, they were all wonderful.

Hansie: Ya, its important for me to know she had a support base as well, not only from a family point of view but also from a friends point of view and even people that weren’t really close to us before have suddenly been in the last three months been taken to her and to the family and really supported us and that’s been wonderful.

Mike: And your parents Bertha?

Bertha: They’ve been wonderful as well, everybody have been wonderful, ya, they’ve been wonderful, they were there for us, for Hansie and myself, and given us a lot of support, and we are a very close family, my brother and sister and mother and father is in Bloemfontein so, we were all together and it was very good, ya.

Marianne: Hansie, it must have been tough to keep it in for so long, and when you finally got the chance to confess to the people close to you, was it a form of relief, did you feel relieved?

Hansie: Ya, I must admit that since the 11th of April, it was a time for me to be able to get everything off my chest and off my back and ever since the time that I first got legal advise its been great to be able to get everything off me, ya.

Mike: When did you first take legal advice?

Hansie: I think, only the afternoon of the 11th of April was the first time, when I got back to Bloemfontein when I went to see the lawyers.

Mike: And where were you both on the morning of April the 7th when the story broke? Where were you both? Were you together at the time when all the newspapers and the TV shows and the radios of course were broadcasting the story of the tapes from India?

Hansie: We were both in George at the time, and we tried to go down to Heralds bay I think, the morning of the 7th, and its obviously not very enjoyable for me, ya and that weekend we spend at home.

Mike: I wanna take you the breaking story, Hansie, what was your reaction to Bertha then and there?

Hansie: On the 7th?

Mike: Ya

Hansie: I said to her that they’ve obviously taken some of the conversations out of context and that’s really what it was all about.

Next

Mail Cricket Editor