Balfour: SA can't call shots

2003-01-02 19:03

Jan-Jan Joubert

Pretoria - Opposition parties have challenged Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour to apply the struggle slogan "no normal sport in an abnormal society" to Zimbabwe and to come out in protest against World Cup games in that country.

Graham Abrahams, Balfour's spokesperson, said South Africa would not prescribe to the International Cricket Council or individual countries about whether or not to play in Zimbabwe.

Donald Lee, Democratic Alliance MP, and Cassie Aucamp, Afrikanereenheidsbeweging leader, reacted to Balfour's pleas for games to go ahead in Zimbabwe as planned by saying the oppressive government of President Robert Mugabe was being strengthened by hosting such matches.

According to Lee, Balfour has "forgotten the past" since the African National Congress came to power.

Lee said: "The ANC led the sport boycott against South Africa when human rights abuses were taking place here. Now that human rights abuse is government policy in Zimbabwe, Balfour wants "sports people to stay out of politics".;

Aucamp asked if Balfour still supported the principle of no normal sport in an abnormal society. If he did, he wanted to know if Balfour viewed Zimbabwe as a normal society.

In reaction, Graham Abrahams, Balfour's spokesperson, said that South Africa would not prescribe to the International Cricket Council (ICC) or individual countries whether they should play in Zimbabwe or not during the World Cup.

Abrahams said any pressure placed on the South African government in this regard was opportunistic, as both the ICC and the countries that had to play games in Zimbabwe had visited the country and decided to play there.

According to Abrahams, it was clear the AEB didn't know the first thing about sport as "no normal sport in an abnormal society" was the slogan of Sacos, an organisation that promoted nonracial sport, and not of the ANC.

"In any case, one needs to understand that it was part of an international campaign lead by the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the Organisation of African Unity that led to the Gleneagles Agreement and it also included economic measures,".;

He pointed out that British companies were still trading in Zimbabwe and that Zimbabwean sports people competed on British soil in last year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester. He could not understand what had changed since then.

Regarding Lee's criticisms, Abrahams said the DA's predecessor, the Progressive Federal Party, was opposed to the sport boycott and were praised by the National Party apartheid government for their stance.

He accused Lee of promoting racism in sport through his involvement in the department of sport in the council of representatives that had the task of dealing with coloured affairs during the tricameral parliament.

- Die Burger