MORE TO FIKILE MBALULA THAN HIS BAFFOONERY

 In the past I have expressed annoyance with Minister of  Sports and Recreation,  Fikile Mbalula, for his buffoonery.  Today, I enthusiastically, but conditionally praise him for banning sports federations from hosting or bidding for international tournaments to facilitate increased representation of black players.  Only conditional praise for the Minister?  Yes, he has yet to step up to the plate.

Mbalula's wielding of a big stick is overdue, but nevertheless a significant step in accelerating diversity in sport. The federations, and we know who they are, have essentially paid lip service to transformation - at best cosmetic window dressing.   They now have their work cut out for them in transforming the sporting landscape.  Besides the role required of federations, Mbalula's department must play an equally vital role in the transformation process.  Inasmuch as Mbalula looks to the federations for remedial action, he and his predecessors have habitually "dropped the ball" in the performance of their mandate.    In other words, they have failed miserably to develop the necessary infrastructure for sports in the country.

 Consider the following premise:  the failure to transform is inextricably linked to crushing  poverty among the less fortunate in the country.  The vast majority of poor young blacks in the townships live in squalor, and sporting facilities that do exist reflect equally squalid conditions.  Perhaps the Minister can accompany me on a visit to the townships around Cape Town.  There he will find sports facilities woefully inadequate, in disrepair and vandalised.  Conditions on fields are invitations for serious injuries. Amenities, such as change rooms are the exception rather than the rule.   The landscapes are treeless and arid - inhospitable and unwelcoming.

In a recent interview the Minister opaquely touched on the lack of development, and blamed his department's limited budget.  A puerile excuse - he and his predecessors have had more than two decades to develop the necessary infrastructure to facilitate transformation.   Also, when it comes to the department's budgets, it is unlikely they were historically and currently reduced.  After all the Minister is no shrinking violet when departmental interests are at stake.

The solution to meaningful transformation is not an esoteric one.  It requires a two pronged approach:  Firstly, an unwavering commitment from federations to expeditiously bring about diversity in sport.  Secondly, for the minister to direct resources to construct new sporting facilities, and improve appallingly decrepit sporting facilities that currently exist for disadvantaged black youth in the townships.