Objectives of TARC

· To ensure that people from a race groups and social backgrounds enjoy equal opportunities to participate in the game of rugby at all levels

· To transform the game of rugby at every level truly reflect the diverse population of South Africa

· To engage with both present and future sponsors financial stake holders of rugby so that these stakeholders realise and embrace their responsibility in transforming the game of rugby

· To ensure that every individual is protected from racism people and structures within rugby by all the adequate allocation of appropriate resources to actively remove racism from rugby by all and any means necessary

Objective of TARC

· To market the game of rugby previously disadvantaged communities and thus grow its support base to ensure a vibrant and sustainable future South Africa

· To prioritise funding to previously disadvantaged communities in order to strengthen the growth of rugby in these areas while ensuring sustainability

· To ensure that the ownership of the transformation process is entrusted to people from historically disadvantaged backgrounds who share and understand our Vision

Presentation to Sports Portfolio Committee

Case Studies

Serve to give insight into issues on the ground and illustrate the challenge of transformation ie where in rugby in 2006

Problem Solving

Solutions to the crisis ie. the way forward for rugby

SA Rugby 2006 14 years since Unity

· 14 years since reintegration of rugby along with other sporting codes

· 14 years to transform itself from being an icon of the Apartheid Regime to becoming a sport of the Rainbow Nation

· 14 years to unify the country and help build a nation

· 14 years to fulfill promises and restore the trust placed in rugby by a nation

SA Rugby 2006 Embarrassment to the Nation

In 14 years of self regulation

· Rampant racism

· Failure to transform

· Regression in addressing the imbalances of the past

· Autocratic rule (sidelining of democratic principles)

· Failure to sell rugby to new markets

· Failure to attract black support

Case Studies

· Racism against Soweto Rugby Club

· Use of Afrikaans

· Black rugby player profile

· Spears rugby union

· Protest march held at Loftus

· Demographics at different levels 2006

Racism against Soweto Rugby Club

· 20^th May 2006 Soweto Rugby Club played a league match at the home of Police Rugby Club

· Second team match was called off by the non-white referee because of racist remarks directed at himself as well as at Soweto pIayers

· During the first team match, Soweto players were again at the receiving end of racist remarks

· A scuffle on the field was then followed by police supporters run onto the field and assaulting the Soweto rugby players and their couch

· Racially inflamed language including the word Kaffir was used by both players and supporters of the Police Rugby Club

Racism against Soweto Rugby Club

· Soweto Rugby Club laid a formal complaint against the Police Rugby Club with the Golden Lions Rugby Union

· Two months passed with no response from the Soweto Rugby suspends it's participation in the league

· Urgent meeting called by Golden Lions to deal with issue

· Soweto attends meeting to demand action against racism

· Soweto demands that a committee be established to deer with issues of racism

· Golden Lions unilaterally appoint a committee to deal with issues of racism and transformation

Racism against Soweto Rugby Club

· The majority of members of this committee are from the Golden Lions

· Committee finds the police rugby club guilty and one of it’s players guilty of racism (admitted to using the word kaffir)

· Committee suspends the player for 2006 season and hands out a one year suspended sentence (2007)if found guilty of simarlar offence in 2006

· Committee hands out suspended sentence to Police Rugby Club for 2006

· 2006 season was over when punishment was handed down

· TARC escalated this issue to president of SARU who promised urgent intervention (six weeks have since passed)

Afrikaans

Afrikaans continues to be u to exclude and belittle black rugby players, administrator , couches and referees

Meetings continue to be held in afrikaans even when it is highlighted that there are people attending e meeting who do not understand afrikaans

Referees continue to speak to players on the field in afrikaans knowing that almost none of black pIayers understand afrikaans

Currie Cup Semifinals 2006 : both referees spoke Afrikaans to players on the field

The national anthem continues to be violated with the singing of the Stem vocally and ignoring Nkosi Sikelela at rugby games

This has been reported ad nauseam to rugby hierachy

Afrikaans entitles ownership of rugby

Black players profile

· Plays rugby in a township team

· Scarce resources at his club

· No private transport at his disposal and therefore walks 4km to training and matches

· Poor background and therefore unable to eat three nutritional meals a day let alone buy expensive protein other nutritional supplements

· Often arrives for matches having not eaten anything on the day and prone to hypoglycemia during the match

Black players profile

· Receives no support and encouragement from his community as the community have not been introduced to rugby

· Regularly abused by racist remarks while playing against traditionally white rugby clubs

· Tries to compete against white counterparts who have access to first world facilities, couching, sports medicine and nutrition

· A ware that national team and couch regularly appear at tournaments and events at white rugby clubs but have never attempted to come to his club to motivate his team

· Only super 14 team to visit his club are a team from Australia

· Supports the opposition when the springboks are playing

Spears Ruby Union

· Obvious choice if transformation and leveling of the playing fields were a priority

· Region has rich heritage of black rugby and fertile ground for producing black rugby players (45% of black super 14 players hail from Eastern Province)

· The minister of sport had given his support to the establishment of a Super 14 franchise in the Eastern Cape

· The importance of creating a home base for black rugby to flourish in the same way that Afrikaaners lay claim to the Blue Bulls as their flagship union

· SARU chooses to sabotage this transformation initiative

Protest March at Loftus

· TARC organized march at trinations match held at Loftus to raise awareness around racism and transformation

· Witnessed first hand racism and completely untransformed nature of SA Rugby

· Examples of comments

· F&$# you, you Kaffirs

· Blacks should play soccer

· Complain to your black president

· There are too many kaffirs in the team anyway

Current structure of Rugby

· Pseudo-democracy

· Historically strong white clubs continue to control the unions by virtue of constitution

· Unions reciprocate by protecting the interests of white clubs to the detriment of transformation

· These clubs have biggest resources and able to cherry pick black players and officials from poor resourced black clubs

· Cherry picking of black faces in the unions who are either aligned to unions agenda due to own selfishness or are open to manipulation by union

· Unions control SARU via presidents council

· Stronger unions have more control

· Dilution of black club interests as you go higher up the structure and resulting interest in self preservation and not transformation

· Inequalities of the past can never be addressed through a structure that is a champion of the strong and destroyer of the weak

· Inherent racism within rugby structures will continue to frustrate any transformation initiatives and render all efforts useless

Cherry picking of black faces at SARU level as well

Resistance to change

· Kader Asmal puts this into perspective in on of his books

· One can not find a single supporter of the apartheid regime in the new South Africa

· But many people spent huge resources trying to obstruct attempts and initiatives aimed at redressing the imbalances created by the apartheid regime

Transformation Charter

· Released by SARU transformation committee

· Transformation committee which has not had a single meeting since inception (as highlighted by Advocate Msiwa in letters of complaint to SARU)

· Wonderful preamble and logic

· Aimed at convincing white rugby about the strategic imperative to transform but this has long been obvious to black rugby

· Empty document ie gives not instructive regarding process of transformation nor does it contain penalties

· Needs to be much more urgent and concrete

Role of government

· Set transformation goals and targets for rugby as in employment equity and in other sectors'

· Protect the values entrenched in our constitution specifically protect people who are vulnerable against prejudice

· Promote redressing of inequalities brought about by apartheid

· Promote sport as a tool to improve the social fabric of the nation

· This means active government intervention

· Background of failure to transform on it's own

Ideal outcome

· For all South Africans to enjoy the game of rugby equally and without prejudice

· If not then at least those South Africans who aspire to enjoy the game of rugby equally and without prejudice should be allowed to do so to the exclusion of those who don't

Way Forward

· Immediate Government intervention

· Black rugby club structures to take ownership of transformation in SARU

· Black rugby club structures to take ownership of transformation at all unions

· Black rugby club structures to be given power to arbitrate on issues of racism and transformation

· Black rugby club structures to have power to take any disciplinary action required to meet its objectives

· To address the flaw in the current structure of SARU and level the playing field

Urgent need

· SARU to admit its failure to transform

· SARU to admit that it harbours elements that are inherently racist

· Apologise to the nation for its dishonesty and selfish refusal to become part of the new South Africa

· Government intervention to call SARU to account

· Government intervention in order to fulfil its constitutional imperative to transform society including sport

· SARU to be summoned to an Indaba to revisit the 1992 Unity Agreement