ADVANCING TRANSFORMATION THROUGH ENGAGEMENT
Introduction
This conference takes place more than ten years after the admission of South Africa into international sport. In that period, South Africa has firmly established itself in the international sporting arena with teams and individuals in a number of sporting codes and disciplines proving themselves at the highest level.
Inside the country there is a thriving sports movement that we can be proud of, although it is not without its problems. The entry of South Africa into the international arena and the total re-organization of all sport inside the country was of course predicated on the momentous and fundamental political changes in this country since 1990. Sport, having played a very significant role in the isolation and eventual destruction of the apartheid regime, would now be required to play a similarly key role in construction of the new non-racial, non- sexist and democratic South African nation. However, in order for sport to play this role the very basis of its social organization, administration and orientation under apartheid would have to be reconfigured, rebuilt and fundamentally transformed. In the decade of the 90's sports people, government and many other role players went about tackling this memorable task with passion, vigour and enthusiasm while others had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the new era. It is thus appropriate for us to review the progress made regarding the transformation of sport and recreation over the last decade and more.
This document is written as a contribution towards the ongoing debate regarding the transformation of sport and recreation and identifies the key issues central to the process in South Africa. This document comprises of three parts. Part One provides a draft conceptual framework for the transformation of sport and recreation by analyzing its historical trajectory since 1990. This conceptual framework locates the transformation of sport and sporting relations in this country within the overall and ongoing process of political and socio-economic change and transition currently underway. It starts off with a general analysis of the objective and subjective conditions necessitating the economic, political, social and cultural or evisceration of the legacy of Apartheid and then moves on to locating the recent (as of 1994) policy, institutional and material changes in sport in this country within that overall process of transformation. In particular, it locates the role of the state (government), sports bodies and federations, civil society and other role players within that process in order to clarify misconceptions particularly about the role of Sport and Recreation South Africa in this regard.
Part Two identifies the key policy and institutional challenges facing the transformation of sport both at a political level (at the level of government) and at the level of sports bodies and federations and civil society in general. Part Three sets out an agenda for the ongoing transformation of sport and recreation in South Africa.
2. Part One: The political context of transformation
The advent of South Africa's first democratically elected government in 1994 presented new challenges, demands and priorities for sport as it did for all other areas of our society. As critical as the first democratic elections were, it heralded the beginning and not the culmination of a process of change that would touch all aspects of South African society and its people. As former President Mandela said at the Presidential Sports Awards ceremony in 1995, the vision of a non- racial, free and vigorous sports community was an intrinsic part of the overall process of change and transition that was coming into being. Given the racially divided history of sport in South Africa and its centrality in the lives of our people, as participants and supporters, it was always destined to be a central element of the overall transformation agenda. However, as with South African society in general, despite the enormous and indisputable progress made in the sporting arena since before 1994, there remains much to be done.
2.1 Diverse understandings of the role of government in sports transformation
The main theme of the current national government policy document on sport and recreation is "'Getting the nation to play". The White Paper defines sport as:
"any activity that requires a significant level of physical Involvement and in which participants engage in either a structured or unstructured environment, for the purpose of declaring a winner, though not solely so; or purely for relaxation, personal satisfaction, physical health, emotional growth and development" (S&R, WP: 1997). The White Paper similarly describes recreation as a: " guided process of voluntary participation in any activity which contributes to the improvement of general health, well-being and the skills of both the individual and society (S&R, WP: 1997).
A perfunctory reading of these definitions in the White Paper would beg the question 'why there is all this emphasis on transforming sport and recreation (Hereafter referred to as S&R) when the White Paper itself defines the essence of sport as being that of "the competitive physical engagement between individuals or teams towards the objective of being declared a winner" (S&R, WP: 1997).
Moreover, questions are raised constantly as to the need for government intervention in sport in the face of other more pressing concerns and priories such as jobs, housing, crime, etc. Surely, the argument goes, now that we formally have a non-racial democracy and one of the most democratic constitutions in the world, there is no need for any deliberate intervention by government or any other body for that matter, to force sports governing bodies at all levels to get their transformation houses in order. They argue for example, that the focus on quotas in some sporting codes is 'reverse racism' and that if the politicians would simply leave sporting people to do their thing without interference, everything would be fine. If we can use an analogy, this argument is very similar to the one that says that the state should not interfere in the 'natural' working of the free market, which, if left to its own devices, would sort out all our economic problems. We would pose the question as to what the state of the economy would be today if we left the redressing of the economic legacy of Apartheid to market forces alone.
Similarly, the question can be posed as to what the state of non-racial sport in South Africa would be if left solely in the hands of sports bodies since 1994. Quite clearly, while the key transformation role players would always be the sport federations and other representative bodies, the process itself would have to be guided by an overall transformation policy based on and guided by government policy.
The other side of the transformation coin argues that government is not interventionist enough when it comes to transformation in sport. They say that many sporting codes and federations simply pay lip service to their own transformation agendas and goals and that very little progress has been made in redressing the historical injustices of Apartheid. They say that left to their own devices, many sporting federations would be very happy to do the minimum regarding transformation and that there is a need for a greater degree of government monitoring and facilitation to ensure that these transformation goals and agendas are met. So, in one sense government is caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to dealing these competing demands on its role regarding transformation.
The position of government as spelt out by Minister Balfour and SRSA is clear; it regards the fundamental transformation of all aspects of SA sport as non- negotiable and it will do whatever has to be done to assist and if necessary, speed up the process.
2.2 The relationship between sport and the overall transformation agenda of government
Sport is often seen both as a barometer of the overall transition towards non- racialism in society and as a key tool in the building of that non-racial society. In these terms, key elements of the transformation of sport such as the demographic representivity of teams and sports governing bodies, the equitable allocation of resources, especially to historically-excluded communities, and the role of sport in building a new patriotism, are held up as important measuring posts on the road to the new non-racial future we all aspire towards. These elements are the essence of sports transformation.
Many people in South Africa and beyond cannot understand why there is so much emphasis and importance attached to transforming S&R. To them it is more a function of the ability and talent of those involved and has nothing to do with what they consider to be extraneous political and social factors. Here sport becomes the 'great equaliser', it becomes the one social and physical endeavour where the ability and inherent natural talent of the persons involved are deemed enough to overcome any social, political and economic hurdles that are put in their way.
People who argue in this way often use the success of African-American basketball , gridiron and baseball players in the US as evidence. Here, they trumpet, is the evidence against government interference in sport, against quotas, evidence of where people have risen to the top despite racism and social and economic inequality. In one sense, these arguments are correct. Under and continues to play an important role in guiding and monitoring the overall transformation process.
2.3 Defining Transformation
What is transformation in sport and why is it necessary? This and other questions often asked are: "How does one measure the extent of transformation? What must be transformed and when does transformation stop?" These are very complex questions and cannot be responded to with trite, pat answers or cliches. However, we start off by making a distinction between transformation as a political process and the politics of transformation. Transformation as a political process refers to the overall national and provincial political process within which change in sport is unfolding. As we have argued in the first part of this document, one element of transformation is explicitly political in that it seeks to redress historical political wrongs perpetuated against the majority of the people of this country. Therefore, transformation in sport takes place within the overall framework of ongoing political change in this country and it is guided by the policies of the ANC government. This, therefore, refers to how the external political environment has impacted on sports federations and sports bodies and how they have dealt with this.
A recent case in point here is the UCB quotas controversy and how the UCB has had to deal with political 'pressures from a wide range of quarters regarding its decision. The politics of transformation, on the other hand, refers to how the various sports federations and bodies that have first responsibility for the administration and playing of sport have dealt with transformation as an internal process. All of these bodies have their own internal programmes and agendas when it comes to transformation and it is really at this level that the challenge lies because it is when there are perceptions from inside these structures as well as from the external political environment that transformation is not happening that conflict arises. Added to this is the phenomenon that all federations have their own internal political dynamics that also meditate the content, progress and extent of transformation.
2.3.1 Transformation and change
Transformation has not been foisted or imposed from the top onto sports federations that have given their complete agreement and buy-in as to the absolute necessity for the process. Very early in the life of the new democracy all the major sports federations struck a social pact of good faith with the government that they would pursue a transformation agenda, the details and modalities of which would be determined by the conditions, demands and realities of each sporting code and federation. The terms of the pact was that government would play a policy-making, facilitating and co-coordinating role and that it would be left to each sporting code and federation to determine policies and strategies regarding their individual transformation agendas. In other words, the problem does not relate to a lack of buy-in or even commitment to the transformation agenda for sport.
While government has largely kept to its word regarding its role, many people in a number of codes and federations are now contending that this good-faith agreement has either become stuck or in certain cases, unstuck. In other words, there is great concern that transformation is either not happening fast enough or is not happening at all. The recent and current controversy in the UCB regarding the dropping of the quota system is a clear indication that there is still great unhappiness about the matter.
2.3.2 Transformation is about change
At its heart transformation is about change. It involves personal, institutional, attitudinal and paradigmal change. Transformation is not about embracing change for the sake of it, but because change is central to the very survival, growth and ultimate blossoming of the relevant enterprise or project. But sports people are notoriously conservative when it comes to implementing and embracing change. This point is not made out of disrespect but rather from the observation that a key factor motivating such resistance to change is that the playing, administration and spectating of sport depends largely on the establishment of a regime of predictability and conformity to rules and regulations. Without this, it is argued, it would be difficult to administer or play sport effectively. Transformation brings with it uncertainty, a potential loss of privilege, power and authority and it brings with it a threat to the 'old ways of doing things'.
2.3.2 Transformation is not about simply replacing white faces with black faces
When the overwhelming majority of people elected the ANC as the government of choice in 1994, it formed a government of national unity and set about the task of addressing and redressing centuries of inequality, it did this with the full knowledge that it had to develop policies, build new state institutions and implement strategies that would bring about measurable and real changes to the lives of the majority of people. 'Transformation' was then and still is the buzzword that encapsulated an ongoing process of fundamental change.
Thus, at the level of society as a whole, transformation refers to the process of fundamentally restructuring the very basis on which the social, economic, cultural and political policies of Apartheid rested. Transformation, therefore, cannot be reduced to the holding of democratic elections, be it at a national political level, or at the level of an individual sports association. Transformation is not about simply replacing white faces with black faces, although there are numerous examples where the process has indeed been reduced to this. Rather transformation is a conscious, deliberate, planned and goal-directed process of fundamentally restructuring the very conditions that have in the past led to the deliberate exclusion of the majority of our people from meaningful participation in most sports. As such, transformation has at its core issues such as the demographic representivity of teams and sports governing bodies, the equitable allocation of resources to historically-excluded communities and the role of sport in building a new patriotism.
At another level, transformation is often reduced to a counting of faces and bodies. In others words, a cursory audit is made of the relative demographic representation of people on an executive or sports governing body and certain conclusions are then drawn as to the progress made regarding transformation.
While such audits are, of course, important and necessary, they are extremely misleading as a measurable indicator of transformation. It is, for example, possible for an organization with a largely white executive to have made much more progress regarding transformation than an organization with a largely black executive, depending on the extent to which power is distributed within an organization. There are many sports organizations where the formal constitutional power lies with an executive but the real power is vested in those who control the financial resource base of the organization. In cases such as this, the ability of the executive to effect transformation is hamstrung or in some cases, hijacked.
At the same time, transformation is also not about developing vehicles for the enrichment, aggrandizement or prosecution of the personal agendas of particular individuals or groups of individuals. This is important because often accusations of a lack of, or resistance to, transformation by a particular institution or organization hides the fact that somebody's personal ambitions have been thwarted.
2.3.3 Transformation is about attitudinal changes
There are many stories in the sports world of black players not being given the same chances to prove themselves as their white counterparts. Similarly, there are also accounts of players being labeled 'quota players' purely on the basis of skin colour. These and other examples point to the fact that a key element of transformation has to do with changes in attitude by those who are at the coal face of transformation, the players and particularly the coaches. This should include the acknowledgement of the rich history of black sporting endeavours in South Africa. However, sports people are not politicians and it is unrealistic to expect a uniform understanding amongst them regarding transformation, in the same way that most politicians would have different opinions on the matter. This point is not made lightly because the average sports administrator and player, for that matter, have been forced to deal with what is essentially a politically-driven process where their first interest is sport, whether as players, administrators or spectators is simply about "getting on with playing the game", irrespective of the context. Many of them have been unable to come to terms with the demands of the new political realities and at some point they will have to be left behind in the interests of the transformation of sport as a whole.
2.3.4 Transformation is an ongoing process
As we have been at pains to point out, the transformation of sport does not take place in a vacuum. It takes place within the context of the long-term transformation of the entire socio-economic edifice of this country. In that sense the transformation of sport will be dictated too by the extent to which that overall process of change takes place. However, this argument should not be taken to mean that the transformation of sport would always be only about the current issues it is embroiled in. Much greater attention has to be paid to developing a set of indicators that can be utilized in measuring the extent to which transformation in certain federations has and is taking place. These indicators must also factor in the constantly heard criticism that transformation in some federations have either stopped or retrograded. There are many reasons as to why this may have happened, but it is not the purpose of this document to analyze them. What needs more attention, however, are the monitoring devices, capacity building and structured assistance and support that can be given to federations to assist them in what is undoubtedly a complex problem.
Ongoing transformation also has another meaning. It is about preparing South African sport for the challenges of the 21"''' century. In particular, the reality is that sport is increasingly becoming professionalized and scientific. This has two key implications: Firstly, it refers to the fact that the players themselves are now seeing sport as a full time career and with that goes higher standards of training, support, coaching, facilities and so on. Secondly, it refers to sport increasingly being run on business lines and principles. These factors are the other side of transformation that is often overlooked in the transformation debate. While some national sports federations such Rugby, Football and Cricket have made great strides in this regard, progress is uneven across the spectrum and this requires much more attention.
3. Transformation developments since 1994
While it is factually incorrect to portray movement towards the non-racial unity of all sport in South Africa as only commencing from 1994, it is correct to say that the election of the ANC-led government of national unity and the formation of the National Department of Sports and Recreation gave this process tremendous impetus. The Department (SRSA) set its overall initial objectives as being that
of:
The Department saw its role as essentially that of policy co-ordination, facilitation and monitoring. The task of achieving the goals relating to the development of true non-racialism in sport would be left to the governing bodies of the different sporting codes. In terms of this, the Department also saw its role as facilitating the movement towards non-racial, national federations for all recognized codes.
National Federations were given targets that dealt with the formation of unified, non-racial bodies, the establishment of viable development programmes aimed at historical redress and in certain cases, pressure was also put on them to ensure at least nominal levels demographic representivity.
3.2 The initial move towards unity
More than ten years later, it is important to assess the extent to which even these basic requirements for transformation have been met by sporting codes and their respective federations at national, provincial and local levels. The first phase of unity in sport was a transitional one motivated primarily by the need to build trust and unity within codes that had been divided by Apartheid for generations, in most cases this process involved bringing together diametrically opposing sporting traditions and cultures and creating new interim leadership structures consisting of nominated representatives from each of the uniting sides. This phase also heralded the emergence of nominally representative national sides in cricket, football, rugby, athletics and a number of other codes. The movement towards transitional unified, inclusive and non-racial structures entailed necessary compromises on all sides to ensure the formation of inclusive administrations. The first phase of unity, therefore, was critical in that it allowed the space for the differing sporting traditions comprising these transitional administrations to "find each other", to work together and to learn how to co-exist in the spirit of unity. It was heady times, exciting, traumatic and filled with tension, conflict and even walkouts. However, despite these to-be-expected hiccups, the first phase of unity was relatively successful in terms of its basic objectives.
It is therefore, apt to portray this phase as the beginning of the process of sport transformation and it is significant to acknowledge that this process happened parallel to the process of political negotiations that would culminate in the first democratic elections and with the adoption of the new constitution in 1996. If some people had their way, the transformation process would have started and stopped at this point. In other words, the notion of transformation as consisting of the inclusion of black faces in white dominated bodies, even to the extent of allowing for black presidents, was held then and in certain quarters is still held, as the basic measurement of transformation. The key issues of decision-making powers, equitable allocation, control and distribution of financial and other resources, the selection of truly representative sides and the affording of genuine opportunities for historically disadvantaged sports people through the conscious and planned re-allocation of resources to a local level had to be forced onto the transformation agenda of almost all the major sporting codes.
This phase of unity also saw the emergence of macro-bodies like NOCSA, the NSC and others. These bodies were formed to play specific macro-coordinating roles, and were subject to a similar process of unity in that it brought together national sport federations and bodies with a history of non-cooperation and even enmity towards each other. It is also critical to assess to what extent these macro-bodies have achieved their transformation agenda.
The point is that there is a history to the struggle for the transformation of sport in South Africa and it would be historical to dismiss or downplay the reality that these issues have been on the agenda for the last decade at least. It is also, however, important to acknowledge upfront that certain national and provincial sports federations have made substantially more progress regarding transformation than others. We believe that these issues are the real meat of what constitutes sporting transformation and it is critical that this conference develops clear guidelines as to how real progress towards this end can be measured.
3.3 The Second Phase of Unity
The second phase of unity ushered in democratic elections in National Federations and their provincial affiliates. However, while this process have been largely completed in the sense that there are representative national federations for all sports codes, there remain fundamental questions about the extent to which real transformation has taken place. The question as to the meaning of transformation in a sporting context becomes pertinent here. This paper does not aim to provide ready-made answers to this complex issue, but we do identify some of the key issues that have emerged around this matter and it is important that this conference should spend some time addressing this issue in order to arrive at conclusions regarding the work still to be done.
One of the hallmarks of the leadership elections that followed the formation of the new national federations was that the first elections largely followed voting patterns based on pre-unity affiliations. This resulted in leadership structures that were formally representative but which still reflected the domination of the well- resourced and administratively more astute white sporting bodies. Thus, while, these new federations were forced by dint of the new political context to publicly embrace the transformation agenda for sport, the reality was that real and fundamental change was very slow in coming and that these battles were still being fought in most national federations. The recent controversy generated by the decision of the UCB to do away with quotas and the subsequent intervention by Minister Balfour in the form of an investigative committee is a clear indication that this battle is ongoing and far from over.
The second phase of sports unity dealt with identifying the playing fields as the true barometer of change and transformation in sport. While a sufficient level of trust was established in administrative structures, the realities on the playing fields were another matter. This was not entirely unexpected as it would have been completely naive to expect that sports people historically divided and alienated from each other by Apartheid, would suddenly lose their fears, prejudices and even hatred for each other. This fact notwithstanding, the process of unity on the field while not without many examples of blatant racism and discrimination, has been relatively positive and without major incidents.
However, it might be taking the claim of sport as the national reconciler too far by ascribing to it achievements that have little permanence beyond the joy and unity wrought by a particular sporting triumph. A case in point is the oft-claimed assertion that South Africa's winning of the Rugby World Cup in 1995 was a seminal moment in the building of the new non-racial South African nation. This claim, largely predicated on the central role played by former President Mandela in the post-victory celebrations, was interestingly not repeated when South Africa won the African Cup of Nations in 1996, when former President Mandela was once again central to the post-victory celebrations. However, we do not want to downplay or deride the ongoing role played by sport in getting ordinary South Africans to meet, understand, and misunderstand and through this contradictory process to accept each other as equals, albeit only on the sports field.
By 1996 it was apparent that transformation of sport was not keeping pace with the transformation of the state and other areas of South African society, despite the triumphant claims made regarding national sports unity in the wake of the Rugby World Cup and the African Cup of Nations. There were increasing calls made for the government to play a greater hands on role in speeding up the transformation process, these calls in turn being mediated by simultaneous warnings for the government to stay out of the sports arena. The position of government with the late Steve Tshwete as Minister, was that its role was still that of national policy-making, facilitating and monitoring of sports unity and transformation and that it would intervene only as a last resort. However, it was becoming increasingly clear by the actions of the department and by the pronouncements of the Minister that it would not hesitate to intervene if it felt such intervention was in the interest of sport transformation. In addition to instances of such intervention, government also developed a policy framework for sport in the country, the White Paper for Sport and Recreation.
3.4 The White Paper on Sport and Recreation
The White Paper was an initial attempt at developing a comprehensive policy framework for sport and recreation in the new South Africa and still remains the only current policy document on the topic. Characterising the task of transforming sport and recreation in South Africa as a partnership between government, non- governmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector, the various sporting federations and bodies as well as the general South African public, government itself took overall responsibility for policy formulation regarding the provision and delivery of sport and recreation. The White Paper identifies the following as the key challenges in this regard:
The White Paper itself is integrative and comprehensive in that it sees sport and recreation as an important vehicle for the reconstruction and unification of the nation while also developing a healthier society. There is no doubt that we have made considerable progress in using sport as a vehicle for transforming and unifying our society as a whole and building a measure of trust and respect amongst our people. We have succeeded in gaining international respect and admiration and more importantly, we have made some strides in ensuring that we give our young children the opportunity to reach unprecedented heights.
However, we have some way to go before we can truly say that transformation in sport has reached the point of no return.
4. Principles for the transformation of sport
We believe that the following principles are central to the success of achieving transformation in sport and are line in line with national policy imperatives for transformation:
4.1 Democracy
There needs to be much more time, effort and resources put into ensuring that our sports federations are run on democratic lines. There is an international tendency for sport to be run by powerful individuals who ride roughshod over the opinions and relative powers of their fellow executive, never mind the ordinary membership. There are numerous examples of this tendency manifesting itself in South Africa as well and it must be vigorously combated at all levels of our sporting federations because it remains one of the biggest threats to sports transformation in this country. Accountability and transparency are key principles that should be zealously upheld and protected by all federations.
In several National and Provincial Federations there is also a tendency for the very democratic principles enshrined in their constitutions, to be used in a way that actually negates the very reason for their existence. In some cases there have been accusations of certain people using such constitutional imperatives to preserve the privileges afforded them by Apartheid. In many instances, for example, the principle of majority rule is employed so narrowly that it effectively disadvantaged communities from participating in the management structures of certain sports. In many cases the presence of black people on management committees, selection and coaching panels etc. is held up as proof of the transformation credentials of that particular body but the reality is that this is done purely for purposes of window-dressing. In the same way that the transformation and democratic credentials of a particular sports body is equated with the presence of a black president in office, it will remain false and patronizing as long as real power continues to reside with those who control the financial, selection and coaching aspects of the organization because it is at these levels that the real test of transformation and democracy lies.
4.2 Non-racialism and non-sexism
These are two pillars that are central to Government's strategic objective of the transformation of South African society. Many Federations, if not all, have adopted non-discriminatory policies in their constitutions. The extent to which these policies are translated into practice and meaningful change is, however, often in doubt. These principles cannot be enshrined in a constitution and then left to develop its own momentum.
4.3 Unitary structures
While this does not appear to be a major problem within most codes of sport, there are still instances where splits and disputes are encountered. This can never be tolerated, but to be entirely dismissive of it, does not help to address the issue either. Quite often the underlying motivation for splinter groups being formed relate to accusations and perceptions of undemocratic practices. While policy on the recognition of unitary structures is quite clear, we must be mindful of the factors that give rise to such secession and ensure that through policies and practices, such occurrences are eliminated.
Equity problems abound in both the provision of resources and employment practices within Federations. It is related to the allocation of resources to the historically disadvantaged relative to that of the previously advantaged sectors of our society with a view to ensure the leveling of the playing fields that have traditionally been weighted in favour of a small minority. We can never speak of merit selection and equal opportunity while the child from Mamelodi still has to participate barefoot while his peer from Menio Park has the best running shoes to participate in road-running. Such inequities will ensure that most representative teams will continue to reflect a skewed profile relative to the demography of South African society.
At the same time, ensuring access to sport by marginalised groups in our society such as women, persons with disabilities, the poor and rural communities remain paramount. It is important that all National Federations embrace this as a priority in trying to contribute towards a better life for all South Africans through sport.
The provision of facilities is also central to the issue of equity and access. While it is not the direct responsibility of sports federations to provide facilities they do have an important role to play in ensuring that access to existing facilities promote the participation of historically disadvantaged sportspeople.
In considering the implementation of this, we need to be considering the significance of existing legislation that could impact on or guide this, such as the Employment Equity Act No. 55, the Promotion of Equality and the Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act No. 4, the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Amendment Act No. 33, and the Labour Relations Act and its amendments, amongst others. National Federations have enjoyed the opportunity to embark on a process of introspection and self-regulation in terms of the above-mentioned Acts. Certain NF's are responding positively to the challenge. However, consideration must still be given to whether specific legislation relating to transformation in sport, for example, a Sport Equity Act is necessary to fast-track the process. It is our belief that the legislative route should really be the last resort and that consideration should rather be given to the development of a Transformation Charter, to be drafted in full consultation with all key stakeholders.
4.5 Redress and Representivity
Representivity refers to the need for sport at all levels to reflect the broader demographics of South Africa. This is the one issue that courts the most controversy. Government policy from a sports perspective is that this is non- negotiable. We cannot allow a situation to develop like in Zimbabwe where the national cricket team is still completely unrepresentative of Zimbabwean society after more than 20 years of freedom in that society. It is our view that this is the one element of transformation in which much more can be done than is presently the case. It is also the domain in which there is most resistance to change from those who would prefer that it happens as slowly as possible, if at all.
The concern is that coaches and selectors are only responding to the minimum targets set. In a sense, minimum targets have come to hinder the selection on merit of many deserving black players. However, the key to solving this issue does not lie in the knee-jerk pushing up of black players into white dominated teams but rather in' the creation of an environment that is conducive to providing opportunities for equitable participation in sport.
This requires the elimination of factors inhibiting the development of a bigger resources pool from which to draw our representative teams. However, it is critical that this is achieved through adequate internal redress and self-regulation rather than government setting the agenda and targets for transformation with regard to representivity.
4.6 Development and Excellence
One of the stipulations of unity and a condition of our admission to international sport was that development programmes had to be instituted that would fast- track closing the gap between access as well as performance levels in advantaged and disadvantaged communities.
However, while such programmes were instituted in many cases, it appears to be the step-child of many Federations. It is the experience of many that development is afforded the lowest priority. But worse than that, "development' seems to have become synonymous with "black". Development, generally, has become a "right of passage" that blacks have to negotiate in order to become eligible for mainstream teams, if at all. In the latter regard, the "glass-ceiling" effect has become all too familiar with the sporting careers of black players being restricted, largely to the development (below elite) sphere. When black players do break through to mainstream teams (often as a result of demands for greater representivity), their inclusion is attributed to a so-called "quota system". Very seldom is it attributed to merit selection. The inclusion of black players, rather, tends to be associated with a lowering of standards and an abandonment of excellence. The excellence versus transformation paradox has become a well-worn debate, alongside the merit, development and quota issues.
It is only a healthy and thriving development programme directed at all our youth that will result in the success of any high performance programmes that we wish to put in place. Excellence can only be attained if it has as its base a national development programme that is adopted and embraced by everyone in sport.
4.7 Capacity building
It is necessary for us to have as part of our transformation process a system of good human resource management and development practices that will utilize human potential to the full. A comprehensive skills development plan should form the basis for this. There are good examples of black administrators being appointed to senior positions, while the essential decision-making powers have been transferred elsewhere in the organization relegating them, effectively, to figure-head status. In other instances people are deliberately set up for failure.
We need to be adopting elements of employment equity and procurement policies that address empowerment and that set targets for transformation.
The sports environment in South Africa is changing rapidly. Recent events in some of our codes have highlighted the need for decisive interventions to ensure that we do not lose momentum in our continued quest for transformation.
4.8 The challenge of professionalism
As stated earlier, there is an increasing trend amongst National Federations to reposition themselves as companies or business entities, or to establish business components. The evolving era of professionalism in sport, just like processes of globalisation, cannot be halted. Instead, it could be seen as a vehicle through which economic empowerment for our people could be attained or promoted. We are well aware of the economic impact of sport and its rapid commercialization.
Sport has, indeed, become a burgeoning commercial enterprise, and a meaningful contributor to the GDP. Whilst our bigger federations have reaped the rewards of this phenomenon, attracting lucrative sponsorship deals from major corporates, the challenge that faces us relates to strategic intervention to ensure that our smaller codes are not left behind.
Insofar as those codes who have benefited from the professional era are concerned and have instituted structural changes to their organizations separating their professional and amateur structures, the challenge for us is to ensure that we do not create a situation where the amateur, grassroots sport structures are sacrificed in order to ensure the sustained growth of the commercial entity. Strategies to prevent such a situation should be devised and should also take into consideration the real need to ensure that processes of professionalism work in favour of the sustainability of grassroots sport development. Those with the financial muscle should, however, never be allowed to dictate the pace, focus and process of transformation. In short, we need to safeguard the interests of our amateur sport whilst developing sporting excellence.
4.9. Innovation and a scientific approach
Sport is considered to be a very conservative institution - one that resists change. Where, in society, sort is stooped in tradition, the situation is exacerbated. By and large, this is the character of South African sport. Failure to take up the challenge of modernizing our approach to sport by embracing scientific methods and technological developments in our endeavours to improve the performances of our athletes and teams is bound to make us less competitive. Unfortunately, such an approach requires considerable investment of financial, and infrastructural resources to which a developing country such a ours does not always have access. We will, therefore, have to decide on whether or not we want to be a major role player in the international sports movement and, in doing so, commit ourselves to invest appropriately in the domain. We cannot simply pay lip service to such a disposition. We do have well qualified sport scientists and good raw material with which to work to achieve the heights that we aspire to, amongst others, ensure that we are all singing from the same hymn book.
Transformation is a multi-faceted phenomenon especially in a society such as ours given our unique history. One of the purposes of this workshop is to ensure that we develop a comprehensive definition thereof with a view to understanding and supporting the processes that we embark upon and the final destination we hope to arrive at. It is not an easy process either - there will be (slow) gains and (big) losses but will, at the end of the day, contribute to the richness of our society for which we have developed world-wide acclaim and respect. Given our circumstances we have no choice but to embark on the transformation processboldly to ensure the better life for all South Africans that we have, ostensibly, committed ourselves to. It may require that those who are overly privileged have to sacrifice some of their abundance to ensure that those who have nothing are offered their place in the South African sun for, unless we achieve a balance in which there is room for ail of us, none of us will ever be able to sleep soundly.