Sport quotas: Minister must give information and must pay after court order

The civil rights organisation AfriForum and the labour union Solidarity said that the sports ministry and various sports federations’ transformation of sport in South Africa is in actually nothing but the establishment of an illegal quota system.

This comes after these organisations today argued in the Pretoria High Court in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) that the ministry must disclose sports information regarding transformation.

According to Johan Kruger, deputy managerial head of Solidarity, the ministry last night sent the requested information regarding its transformation targets, ahead of today’s court session, while the court today ordered that Fikile Mbalula, sports minister, and the South African Rugby Union must pay the legal costs of AfriForum and Solidarity.

“Although we are still trying to process all the documentation, it is already clear that the way in which transformation is applied, in fact only amounts to a quota system – something that is expressly prohibited by the Constitution, the Employment Equity Act and various international sports conventions. We will undoubtedly bring further legal action to stop the use of quotas in sport,” said Kruger.

According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, the application of sport quotas in South Africa goes against various international agreements which South Africa has signed and endorsed.

“Ironically, the ruling party is now applying quotas, while in 1970 it pleaded with international bodies that athletes should be judged on merit. So, we still stand by the position that merit should be the only factor in the composition of sports teams,” Kriel said.