Transformation in rugby is no longer a moral issue; it is a strategic necessity if the sport is to survive in South Africa.
That is the view of Dr Willie Basson, author of the transformation charter that the South African Rugby Union (Saru) adopted at its latest president’s council meeting. Presenting the charter to the media on Tuesday, Basson said rugby’s traditional resource pool is dwindling.
”It is still largely a white sport,” he said. ”The only provinces where coloureds and blacks traditionally play rugby are the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, where effective structures were established during the apartheid era.
”But in other provinces, development has not gone much beyond the urban areas and rugby does not reflect the demographic profiles of these areas.
”Soccer and netball both have a huge support base in all parts of the country, and sports like baseball, basketball and volleyball are all growing. The 2010 World Cup offers soccer an outstanding opportunity to grow its base even more. If rugby is to survive, it needs to grow its support base, and to do that, it has to change its image and reputation by becoming more involved in rural and urban communities,” he said.
”We have had 12 years of over-simplification, with the emphasis on how many blacks are in the Springbok team, and there has been a total disregard for what drives the transformation process,” added Basson.
He said it was important to maintain and improve the existing pool of players.
”But at the same time, we have to explore and develop the vast pool of untapped resources. There is no country in the world that has the sort of potential we have — if we tap into these resources and develop them properly, I believe we will become unbeatable,” said Basson.
He said the main objectives of the charter are to increase the number of blacks involved in all aspects of rugby, on and off the field, and to improve the quality of performance in all areas and at all levels of the game.
Basson said this would be achieved by: ensuring that the demographic profiles of all rugby’s structures in all areas approached the relevant population and rugby playing demographic profiles; ensuring equitable distribution of all resources; promoting equitable access to infrastructure, participation opportunities and activities in all provinces on and off the field of play; developing, improving and extending the skill and capability base of South African rugby; implementing preferential procurement practices; and regular and systematic monitoring of progress in all areas.
Chairperson of Saru’s transformation committee, James Stofberg, emphasised that transformation was ”a process and not an event”.
”It’s not about how many blacks are in the Springbok team,” he said. ”The provinces will drive the process and, by 2014, there will be no more talk of transformation,” he predicted.
The charter has been presented to all the provinces, the South African Rugby Players’ Association, the South African Referees’ Association and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sport. — Sapa