Quotas not wrong, those who oppose them are
If there’s something Solidarity needs to understand, it’s that transformation targets are here to stay — and they’re not just about numbers. They form part of a heartsand-minds approach that seeks to redress the imbalances of the past. At times they’ve been haphazardly applied but they’re there to ensure racial groups that didn’t get a fair shot at provincial and national representation now get to compete on a level playing field in all sports. Transformation doesn’t seek to replace white with black, but to ensure all races are included to ensure there is an accurate representation of society in sport. Whether on the field or in the boardroom, transformation is there to make sure there are different backgrounds to acknowledge, understand and to solve the problems that come with SA’s varied cultural and racial frameworks. It hasn’t been perfect but it has worked.
Transforming SA’s fractured society remains a delicate process and not a one-off event. By taking the sports ministry and various sporting bodies to court, Solidarity is reinforcing the reason transformation targets, or quotas, were needed in the first place. Merit is a subjective term and it’s been used as a form of subtle discrimination. Just because targets have contributed to the success of black athletes in different sports codes doesn’t mean the train should shudder to a halt. The concept of sustained black sporting success hasn’t filtered through to all sports, and some, rugby in particular, hasn’t grasped the need to be fully inclusive at all levels.
Quotas aren’t the problem, the issue is with those who steadfastly refuse to understand that the future of South African sport is largely black. SA’s Super Rugby teams don’t meet SA Rugby’s strategic transformation requirements in terms of 50% of their coaching complement being black, and the teams also struggle to meet their on-field targets of fielding 50% black players in their match squads.
Solidarity and its sister body, AfriForum, believe quotas are unfair and wrong, but it’s those two organisations that are more of an impediment to our sport than are inept administrators. Transformation will continue to remain a part of sport until there’s an understanding that black and white players can be equally good.