Willemse played for the national team in the early 2000s. He earned himself Player of the Year and Player’s Player of the Year in 2003.
Botha was a household name in the game between 1980 and 1992, when he donned the Springbok jersey on 28 occasions.
Mallet is also a rugby authority, having coached the national team for 4 years until 2000.
The three former players were employed as analysts at SuperSport.
When Willemse staged his walkout, he said that “he can’t work with people who undermine other people. I am not going to sit here and be patronised by these two individuals who played their rugby during the apartheid, segregated era.”
SuperSport denies racism allegations
SuperSport CEO Gideon Khobane defended the company after the incident.
He said that the walkout was not fuelled by racist undertones, but the company would “investigate deeper on what happened because nobody just leaves a live production.”
“We are positive that this was not a racially motivated issue because all parties were very courteous during our discussions,” said Khobane.