McKenzie focuses on ‘equality of access’ in rugby and cricket transformation debate

Sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie does not talk big about change in “demographic” representation in rugby and cricket but promised to improve access to sports development and focusing in underprivileged areas as he tackled the transformation debate in parliament.

McKenzie shared his views in the ongoing debate in parliament, answering a question posed by EFF MP Thapelo Mogale last week about his plans to address the “slow pace” of transformation in rugby, cricket and other sporting codes “which do not reflect South Africa’s demographic representation.” 

He said his focus was on “equality of access” to pave the way for people from different backgrounds to qualify to play in national teams.

“There has been an overemphasis over the years focusing on what I might call ‘equality of outcome’ when it comes to transformation in sport, meaning our society tends to look at the demographic profile of people who succeed in the upper and professional levels of sport, but by then it is already too late. What matters more is ‘equality of access’, which speaks to young people being able to participate and train in sports from an early age. Many professional tennis players, for example, started at the age of five. The game becomes second nature to such players,” he said. 

“We see people from underprivileged communities succeeding in sports that don’t require a large investment in resources. To learn to play soccer you need an open patch of ground and a ball. To become a cricket bowler, you need a ball. However, to be a batter you need pads, a bat, a helmet, gloves, groin protector and more. This is why we see our system producing many black bowlers of talent, but few batters. 

“Equality of access is therefore the critical challenge.” 

The minister indicated to parliament that he had started discussions with his department about building more sporting facilities. 

“I have started the discussion around building sporting facilities that can be located within accessible distance of clusters of schools in such a way that we begin to turn around a statistic that shocked me when I first took on this role, and that is that only one in 10 schoolchildren are participating in sport,” he said. 

“Some of the historical background I can offer is that the department held the National Sport and Recreation Indaba of 2011, where the sports sector adopted the National Sport and Recreation Plan and the Transformation Charter for South African Sport.”

To implement proposed changes, McKenzie said the department has been monitoring “self-set transformation” targets made by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee and 19 targeting national federations. 

“The assessments have been based on a multidimensional scorecard and the following are the key dimensions of transformation being assessed: access, skills, capacity development, demographics, performance, contribution to government priorities and good governance.” 

He said the department had noted areas that require attention to fast-track transformation in sport. 

“The department has attempted the implementation of a school sport programme in partnership with the department of basic education through a memorandum of understanding (MOU). However, the MOU expired in May 2023, and underwent a review  which culminated in the hosting of a national School Sport Indaba. It was clear at the Indaba there has been little to no progress in establishing sustainable school sport leagues in less privileged communities, which constitutes most of where our children are affected. A new MOU is being discussed between the two departments that will see intensive focus on the establishment of school sport leagues and setting of structures to manage the leagues,” he said. 

“With cricket, there is a consideration through the league programme to ensure we increase the number of cricket hubs. Through the KFC mini-cricket programme, which is led by Cricket SA, we intend to expand the quality of opportunities and ensure schools and clubs from rural areas are actively involved in the mainstream of cricket.” 

TimesLIVE