Battle lines are drawn for big fight
Xasa pulls in best legal minds to face Solidarity full on
THE SA government is putting together the best possible legal team to face Solidarity in court ahead of the trade union’s bid to challenge transformation in sport.
Sports Minister Tokozile Xasa confirmed yesterday she has instructed the director-general in her department‚ Alec Moemi‚ to get the best legal minds in the country at whatever cost in preparation for the court battle against Solidarity.
Solidarity and AfriForum took SA Rugby‚ Cricket SA (CSA) ‚ Athletics SA (ASA) and Netball SA (NSA) to court in May last year over transformation targets. But Xasa said they would not allow anyone to undermine what they are doing.
“We are facing a court case by Solidarity that says what we are doing is unfair to those who have held privilege since the dawn of colonialism and apartheid‚” she said.
“I have issued an instruction that we defend this case with all the might the state has‚ we cannot afford to lose this case. It is of such national importance because it can potentially reverse the gains of democracy for the underprivileged majority.
“I have further directed the director-general to assemble a senior and capable legal team to defend what is necessary to secure the future of our country and its stability.
“In the year of the centenary of Nelson Mandela‚ we believe that this process is key to the success of the reconciliation and nation-building process our country is currently engaged in.”
Xasa said she was disappointed that Solidarity are trying to frustrate and challenge the whole transformation agenda in the country but warned that government would do whatever is necessary to protect the underprivileged majority.
“They are taking us to court because they want to (preserve) the apartheid legacy.
“Our stance is not to purge anyone but to give opportunities to all South Africans and ensure that we create an environment of inclusivity and for our young people.”
Xasa announced that rugby‚ netball‚ football and cricket have met the transformation targets they had set for themselves over the past year.
Though South African athletes have consistently performed well on the international stage‚ ASA did not fully meet their self set targets largely because of their poor development programmes.
Meanwhile, SA Rugby welcomed its successful achievement of its targets in the latest report of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Transformation in Sport released in Pretoria yesterday.
Rugby showed a 17% improvement to achieve 60% of the targets agreed with the Department of Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sasccoc).
The EPG sets a minimum target of 50% achievement as the measure of successful compliance.
“Rugby is succeeding in the transformation process and we’re pleased with the outcomes of the EPG report,” said Jurie Roux, chief executive of SA Rugby.
“We’re proud of the fact that rugby was the top performing federation from the five sports that were part of the pilot project in terms of transformation – we have worked hard to achieve our targets. We remain on track to deliver on our five-year Strategic Transformation Plan (STP), which we launched in 2015.
“Rugby in South Africa needs to continue transforming if it is to survive in our nation’s changing demographic landscape, as the report highlights. It is a business imperative for rugby as well as a high performance opportunity to access untapped talent.
“Our process is well mapped out and transparent. We know where we have to improve, but we remain confident of delivering on the agreed targets by the end of next year.”