/ 7 November 2007

Sports minister says ‘quotas are out’

Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile ruled out racial quotas for national teams on Tuesday after the mainly white Springboks' recent victory in the Rugby World Cup reignited the debate over transformation. ''Quotas are out,'' Stofile told a parliamentary sports committee. ''Let us put our resources into the development of talent.''

Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile ruled out racial quotas for national teams on Tuesday after the mainly white Springboks’ recent victory in the Rugby World Cup reignited the debate over transformation.

”Quotas are out,” Stofile told a parliamentary sports committee.

”Let us put our resources into the development of talent.”

The presence of only two coloured players in the winning team’s starting line-up, 13 years after the end of white minority rule, has led to a new bout of soul-searching about how to ensure the progress of more black players.

Politicians, including President Thabo Mbeki, have reiterated the need for true racial transformation in South Africa, of which 80% of the population is black.

But Stofile said quotas were not the answer, as a failed experiment in South African rugby showed a few years ago.

”Quotas were used only for window dressing for international consumption,” he said.

”Those who have the money go and buy the players … instead of developing the boys where they are.”

Stofile said black children, mostly poor, needed proper nutrition and facilities to help them develop the bone structure and muscle tone required for sports participation from an early age.

”We must kill the myth that … black people cannot play certain sporting codes because they are black,” the minister told MPs.

”Let us put our resources into the development of talent.”

About R200-million would be needed for this purpose annually, said Stofile, who argued for the creation of a national developmental rugby squad.

”We [the government] are not going to decide who must be on the team. All we are saying is: expose everybody, give them an opportunity.”

Majority favour quotas

A slim majority of the population favoured racial quotas in national sports teams, a survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has showed.

The results from the South African Social Attitudes Survey (Sasas), conducted annually by the HSRC — said while a slim majority favoured racial quotas, there were still strong racial disparities in the level of support for quotas.

The period 2003 to 2006 was analysed.

The survey found that black South Africans were more than four times as supportive of quotas compared to the white population. – Sapa-AFP