About 80 members of the labour union Solidarity picketed outside the SA Sports Commission’s Pretoria offices on Wednesday following its retraction of a gold medal won by a white athlete at the recent South African Games.
In a memorandum, Solidarity denounced the step as racial discrimination, and insisted on the medal being returned to tennis player Adele van Niekerk.
Such discrimination, it said, was prohibited by the South African Constitution and the Olympic Charter.
”The fact that discriminatory practices aimed at eradicating inequalities are constitutionally allowed, cannot serve to justify depriving an athlete of a medal solely on the basis of skin colour,” the document said.
”Solidarity supports the eradication of inequalities, but this step achieved no such end — it rather created new inequalities.”
The union rejected the commission’s denial that the matter was racially motivated.
It said tournament director David Kampele had confirmed that teams comprising more than 50% white players would not be entitled to medals.
Solidarity urged commission chief executive officer Joe Phaahla to take urgent steps to eradicate all forms of racism from South African sport.
Protesters waved placards reading ”Yes to true equality in SA sport”, and ”No to new discrimination in SA sport”.
The commission, which was the organiser of the games, could not be reached for comment.
Solidarity spokesperson Kallie Kriel dismissed the commission’s explanation that the medal was taken away because Van Niekerk had already played internationally.
It had now been established that a number of other medal winners had also participated internationally in the past.
”It is a disgrace that the commission is now willing to sacrifice these athletes, by taking away their medals in an effort to save face,” he said.
Beeld newspaper reported on Wednesday that the South African Games medals of five other tennis players would also be withdrawn. At least one of them was black.
The trade union on Wednesday laid a charge of racial discrimination with the International Olympic Committee over the Van Niekerk matter, and urged it to intervene. – Sapa