On Monday, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula announced that he would revoke the privileges of various sporting codes, including Netball South Africa for failing to meet their transformation targets and he will review his decision in 2017.
Mbalula’s decision comes after he received a report from the eminent persons group on transformation.
Netball South Africa CEO Blanche de La Guerre says, “Our board at the moment, due to resignations and retirements, is not balanced but the process is in place and we showed Dr. Basson and he agreed but it fell outside of the period of the report given. So in our next period that will be fixed.”
At the same time, Athletics South Africa (ASA) President Aleck Skhosana has said he agrees with the steps taken by Mbalula regarding transformation in sport.
Skhosana said the issue must be taken seriously.
“What has been introduced is very good. You can’t talk from 1994 about transformation and you become a toothless dog.”
He said this move by the minister will not only benefit the ASA, but the country’s sport as a whole.
“What the department, Eminent Persons Group (EPG) and South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee have done is quite a good exercise. I’m not saying that it’s only good for ASA; it is good for sport.”
Meanwhile, former cricket chief Dr Ali Bacher said that in 2006 he urged Springbok rugby executives to pay more attention to transformation.
He said the department will reconsider the decision after the results of the 2016/2017 transformation barometer.
