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Sport: Govt will not interfere
06/03/2008 15:49 - (SA)
Cape Town - Government will not interfere in selection of national teams and election of administrators.
That's the word from Cedric Frolick, vice-chair of Parliament's portfolio committee on Sport and Recreation.
Frolick's assurance comes in the wake of the dressing down Cricket South Africa officials were given in Cape Town last Tuesday.
There have been fears in sporting fraternities that the newly amended National Sport and Recreation Act, which was promulgated last November, will play an increasing role in SA sport.
"As a result of the turmoil that prevailed in national cricket it was necessary to address cricket officials," said Frolick. "The aim was to assist cricket because of disputes and alleged mismanagement, which brought a sport and recreational activity into disrepute.
"Apart from the address by the Portfolio Committee there wasn't a need for any further action. The cricket officials closed ranks and promised to sort out the problems."
Frolick explained that in the case of cricket the alleged mismanagement came about because of the lack or slow pace of transformation.
"Sports federations at the time of unification in South Africa were initially tied up with dealing with teething problems and as a result transformation was placed on the back burner.
Transformation ideals
"At the time the country was embracing reconciliation so sport administrators were almost entirely focused on ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of the federation.
"Because of that focus, the transformation ideals, which is a primary function of every national sport federation, was often overlooked.
"Another problem that continued to stunt transformation in recent years was opposition by national federation officials." Frolick said there have been many complaints by members of SA's population about transformation, and many have asked for government intervention.
"The jist of the complaints was that national teams, especially rugby and cricket, were still predominantly white.
"There are officials who think the situation will go on unchecked. Officials have the task of promoting equity, representivity and redress in sport and recreation.
"The portfolio committee monitors the various codes to establish the situation. What some people forget is we present the majority in this country, and our job is to ensure they are given a chance to compete at all levels."
Recently a group of former Springbok captains were given an audience by president of the South African Rugby Union (Saru), Oregan Hoskins, who was presented with a memorandum, in which they expressed their opposition to political interference in rugby.
Frolick said since then a group of former Sacos-affiliated rugby players had complained that Saru had never given them an audience, even though they've often raised concerns with Saru.
As a result, the Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile, has agreed to meet the former Sacos-affiliated players at parliament next week.
Another problem which confronted national federations, according to Frolick, was the role of the media. "There are unrealistic expectations because people assume the playing fields are level.
"We are not living in an ideal world, although we are striving for that. There is still so much work to do before we can relax the transformation drive.
"The question of addressing imbalances in society is still a top priority and transformation is crucial to that process," said Frolick.
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Rugby
