"No normal sport in an abnormal society" - sports isolation and the struggle against apartheid in South African sport, 1980-1992

There has always been the misperception that separate development in sports in South Africa was initiated by the introduction of apartheid as government policy in 1948. On the contrary, apartheid in South African sport had been practised long before the apartheid policy legalised separate development at all levels of South African society. Only since 1948 the practice of sport was governed by laws, whence a close correlation between sports and politics in South Africa developed. Since 1948 South Africa's position was unusual and perhaps unique in that sport became the object of civic struggle in the name of social justice, involving not just players, but the whole population

AN ANALYSIS OF POLICIES AND LEGISLATION RELATING TO CHILD PARTICIPATION BY CHILDREN IN ALTERNATIVE CARE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Worldwide, children in the care of the state constitute one of the most vulnerable groups in society. They are often not heard, or their views not respected in matters concerning them. This is incongruent with the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989). Guided by a conceptual framework of child participation theory, this article analyses South African legislation and policies to determine how and when child participation is being promoted. Findings indicate that providing information to children on how to participate meaningfully is the key for effective child participation and that practical guidelines should be developed

Entrenching apartheid in South African sport, 1948 to 1980: The shaping of a sporting society during the Strijdom-, Verwoerd- and Vorster administrations

The debate on transformation and quotas in South African sport resurfaced just before the South African general elections in May 2014. Transformation has become a contentious, but key issue in post-apartheid South Africa. The formative stage of racial divide in South African sport can be traced back to the implementation of rigid apartheid policies into South African sport during the period 1948 – 1980. Between 1948 and 1956 not much was done to develop a formal sports policy, but under the leadership of Strijdom, Verwoerd and Vorster strong sports policies, based on the principle of apartheid, were initiated and enforced through legislation in South African society. The introduction of apartheid in South African sport dates back to much earlier, but in 1948 it became governed by law, which were strictly adhered to by the different National Party administrations for the next three decades. Key issues, such as the ongoing Maori question, South Africa’s exclusion from the Olympic Games and world soccer, Verwoerd’s Loskopdam speech, the Basil D’Oliveira debacle and the Gleneagles Agreement, contributed to the destructive influence on sport in the country, which was shaped by the sport apartheid laws. Set against the background of international resistance towards apartheid in sport, the National Party’s sports policy changed continually. By the end of the seventies, the interaction between sport, politics and policies had done enough to create a very complex situation, which can be seen as the historical background to the transformation issue in South African sport today

Sport for people with disabilities as factor in reshaping the post-apartheid South African sporting society

Limited research has been done on the history and impact of sport for people with disabilities in South Africa, yet disabled athletes like Oscar Pistorius, Natalie du Toit, Ernst van Dyk, Hilton Langenhoven, Zanele Situ, Lucas Sithole and many others have become internationally renowned sporting icons. They have contributed to making disability sport trendy and contributed to uniting a sports mad society and helping it enjoy, understand and appreciate disability sport on par with other sporting codes. Since 1994, disability sport has grown faster than many of the able-bodied sporting codes in South Africa and, in some cases, even surpassing it in popularity. The South African Minster of Sport and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula’s decision to amend policy and to give Olympic and Paralympic medalists the same compensation after the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games clearly illustrates the rise to prominence of disability sport in this country. Statistics have shown that more television viewers supported South African Paralympic events than during the Olympic Games itself. During the apartheid era, disability sport had to endure the same abuse and social problems as other, able-bodied sporting codes in South Africa. However, after 1994 it seems that disability sport and disability athletes adapted to the fast changing sporting issues within the democratisation of both politics and sport in South Africa with more ease

Sports isolation and the struggle against apartheid in South African sport: The sports policy of the National Party during the 1980s

Under the National Party (NP) government sport had been governed by apartheid laws since 1948. Towards the end of the seventies the NP introduced the idea of sports autonomy as their policy going into the 1980s. This was based on the fact that government wanted to withdraw from the development and management of sport in the country. Growing resistance from the opposition, anti-apartheid movements, sports people in South Africa, as well as from the conservative elements within the NP against apartheid in sport, continued to work against government principles. The overwhelming anti-apartheid idea that apartheid in sport was no longer the ultimate goal, but the abolishment of apartheid legislation in general emphasised the pressure on the South African government during the decade under discussion. Various small amendments to the sports policy did not bring much relief, as the struggle against apartheid and apartheid in sport intensified. Government’s frequent reassurance that sports autonomy removed government from the management sphere of sport in the country did not reach base, as various racially inclined laws and acts still ensured that governments had to intervene in sport and the practice thereof from time to time. This culminated in talks between the African National Congress (ANC) and, amongst others, a group of South African sports people, with a view to counteracting the NP’s sports policy and paved the way for more talks towards dismantling apartheid in sport and the normalisation of sporting ties in South Africa and internationally

Die 1981 Springbok-rugbytoer na Nieu-Seeland: Die katalisator in die stryd teen apartheid in Suid-Afrikaanse rugby

In analysing the history of South African sport the 1981-Springbok rugby tour to New Zealand is always mentioned as one of the turning points in the struggle against apartheid in South African sport. Due to the nature of the segregated sports development in South Africa, there has always been a racial undertone in the rugby relations between South Africa and New Zealand, but the All Blacks have always been one of South Africa's closest rugby allies. The 1981 tour, however, changed all of this, mainly because it caused a rift within the New Zealand rugby community and led to strong political undertones that nearly halted the tour. Various anti-apartheid groupings, the New Zealand police force and the rugby-mad New Zealand people came in confrontation with one another during the tour. This confrontation was orchestrated by 'behind the scenes' developments, and attempts by the anti-apartheid organisations to dismantle apartheid in South African sport. By disrupting and almost stopping the tour, these orchestrated attempts by the anti-apartheid movements set an example for future actions against apartheid in South African sport. These actions not only stunned the rugby public in New Zealand, but television brought these visuals to the homes of many white South Africans for whom it was their first real experience of the boycott actions against South African sport

Plaaslike en internasionale verset teen apartheid in Suid-Afrikaanse sport gedurende die tagtigerjare

The implementation of apartheid legislation by the National Party (NP) in 1948 led to the establishment of similar enforceable structures within South African sport. This was met by much resistance, both inside and outside South Africa. The formation and development of various international and local antiapartheid organisations with a broad interest in South African sport led to conflict with the NP government about its sports policy which promoted racial segregation. By the 1980s, the NP's policy on sport had, mostly due to external pressure, changed considerably, but not enough in the eyes of the organisations fighting apartheid in South African sport. An orchestrated attempt to rid South African sport from its apartheid legacy intensified during the 1980s, with the United Nations, the Organisation of African Unity, SACOS and SANROC leading the way. These organisations would go to the extreme to show that separate development in sport, as well as inequality in the South African society, was not acceptable. The extended pressure on South African sport by these organisations, in adherence with anti-apartheid structures and organisations throughout the world, eventually led to unity talks between various stakeholders in South African sport at the end of the 1980s, with far-reaching positive effects for South African sport

The role of the English rebel cricket tour to South Africa, 1989/1990, as a factor in the dismantling of Apartheid in South African sport

During the 1980s South African sport was involved in two separate international tours which had far-reaching effects for the boycott actions against apartheid in sport. The Springbok rugby tour to New Zealand in 1981 and the English cricket tour of South Africa during the 1989/90 season were in many ways very different, but have since been identified by many sports historians as the two most violent tours in the history of South African sport