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By Edwin Naidu in Johannesburg

Get this straight. HANSIE CRONJE WASN'T simply South Africa's cricket captain. This god-fearing Afrikaner from the white tribe that once ruled South Africa was this country's filler of spaces. His determination to win the game for the new South Africa filled the space left by the country's isolation over its apartheid past. His firm, paternal hand moulded a team that tried to fill in an emotional void for an emergent rainbow nation.

Hansie Cronje was South Africa's all-conquering hero, a gentleman and a winner. Since taking over captaincy of the Proteas in 1994 he embraced the ideals of the new democracy and helped shape South Africa into matchwinners. His admission that he had been dishonest shook South Africa like nothing had before.

"We in South African cricket are shattered. The board and the government have been deceived," said United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) Managing Director Ali Bacher. "People will ask why we supported him (referring to the UCBSA's public support of Cronje after police in Delhi first made match-fixing allegations)...if it was an error in judgement then so be it." Of Cronje's denial that he had received any financial reward, Bacher said bluntly: "It's not true." Cronje's wife, he added, had counted the notes the player received in exchange for "information and forecasting" about matches.

Television, radio and news broadcasts were littered with the sad story about the rise and fall of Cronje. "Hansie: a nation betrayed," screamed The Star's banner headline, while placards strung on lamp posts summed up the mood. The word "shame" was printed in large letters above a large blow-up of Cronje hanging his head. "If Hansie can be bought, who cannot?"asked the Citizen, whose cartoon pictured Cronje as a falling angel, plummeting earthwards with his wings on fire; two seraphs on a nearby cloud remarked: "Too close to the sun".

Indeed Cronje was, and in bars, in schools, on the streets, an emotional upheaval was evident. "The whole country put their faith in him -- this is an absolute disgrace. If I saw him in the street I'd punch him in the face," said Darren Whittle, the public-address announcer at the sold-out game against Australia at Kingsmead, where the incident didn't seem to affect sales. But one of Cronje's sponsors, a restaurant chain, ended a multi-million rand advertising contract with him on Tuesday. Elsewhere, condemnation was strong.

Viv Holden, an event manager for match sponsors Standard Bank, organised an autograph session with handicapped and terminally ill children from the Reach for a Dream Foundation at the South African net practice on Monday. "Hansie kept those kids waiting from 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. without even acknowledging them. Some of them have two months to live. When I looked at their faces when he finally came to them I saw how they worshipped him. Now I feel sick."

"So much rested on Hansie Cronje, more perhaps than we realised," said Adrian Hadland, political editor of The Sunday Independent. "Like Francois Pienaar (former captain of the rugby team who, more than Hansie, epitomised unity in the country when he led South Africa to triumph in the 1995 World Cup), he personified what we thought the new South Africa was about. Like our rainbow nation he persevered in the face of adversity and triumphed when those all around him had given up hope." Dejected schoolboy Thulani Mteta echoed that widespread view: "Hansie knows that every kid in South Africa looks up to him and admires him. He now has to live with the fact that he destroyed the image South African children have of him, their sporting hero."

But for many, Cronje's confession to receiving "between $10,000 and $15,000" left more questions than answers and the spotlight will now fall on a government-appointed judicial commission that will probe the actions of Cronje and any other players in the affair. Many South Africans could not understand why Cronje, who received around -- 300,000 a year, could throw away his career for "peanuts" and many wondered what prompted such a devout Christian sportsman to undertake such a flirtation with bookmakers.

Right now, more than anything, South Africans want to hear from the silent Cronje. They still want to give him a chance. "I think it's about time Hansie Cronje came out with the real truth about the matter," said one caller to a radio talk-show, which appealed in vain for Cronje himself to call. And despite his admission of partial guilt, feelings for the deposed captain and the team he built are still strong. About 94 per cent of callers to a Johannesburg newspaper, The Star, on Thursday said they wanted Cronje back in the team. Only 6 per cent of callers were opposed to him representing the country again. Reformed Christian gangster Rashaad Staggie, who like Cronje is a member of the Rhema Church, said the cricketer should ask fans for forgiveness before making his peace with God. Staggie said: "He has a case with God, but first and foremost with the people."

News-hungry people kept themselves informed over the Internet as the Cronje scandal broke. More than 30,000 hits were recorded on the national Independent Online (IOL) -- a premier website that contains the online version of many newspapers -- within six hours as the Cronje scandal unfolded on Tuesday, beating the site's previous record story by more than five times. IOL's overall traffic for the day was running at well over double the usual figures. "We've never seen a story get anywhere near this much attention," said Don Bayley, editor of IOL. He said Cronje has created a media event unprecedented since IOL's launch last July. IOL's previous chart-topper, the birth of a baby live online on February 11, attracted only a fifth as many viewers as reports about Cronje.

The Internet was abuzz with heated debates, vitriolic attacks and disbelieving support for the axed captain after his startling admission of dishonesty. The website www.wankers.co.za voted him their "Wanker of the Month" and published a photograph of a smiling Hansie clutching a Test series trophy and the comment: "We all know why Hansie's here. The wanker not only ripped off his fans and his country, but he also lied to them all. There can be no redemption in admitting that he has not been 'entirely honest' with everyone at the last stage."

Before the penny dropped, newspaper editorials vociferously demanded an apology from Indian authorities while callers to national radio stations sarcastically said Cronje should thank the Indians because he could now sue for millions. The arrogance, epitomised by Cronje in his initial denial, continued to play itself out when he was emphatic there was no wrong-doing on his part.

There was also a racial edge to the debate. Callers to 5fm, a national radio station whose listeners are mainly white, dismissed the allegations and believed in Cronje's innocence. "It's part of a third force," said one angry caller. "If he has done wrong, he should face the music," said a caller to Kaya, another Johannesburg station which has mainly black listeners. "I think it's a big fat lie. Hansie wouldn't do that...not to us, not to the team and not to himself," one woman wrote to a website. Another said: "I'm personally reeling in shock. How could Hansie do it? He is a role model to thousands of South Africans and a Christian. Do we really 'all have our price'? I thought not, but maybe I'm just naive. I am bitterly disappointed." Another lashed out at recent press coverage: "This is great. I can't wait to see how the media (racist?) untangles itself from this one after running down Indian police and heaping praise on Hansie."

But Cronje was not abandoned by the people in his life. "Hansie remains our child," said his father Ewie Cronje from their home in Bloemfontein, Free State. "No matter what happens we will stand by him." Free State Cricket Union President Charlie Robinson said he would welcome Cronje back to the provincial side if he wanted to play.

South Africa, after a week of shock, anger and intense sadness, is now picking up the pieces. Heroes fail, idols flounder, said a sombre TV advertisement from the Standard Bank recently. Yet, it said, they leave a space for new heroes to fill. South Africa needs those heroes. It needs those spaces filled.

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