QUOTE
1. Every team to have a minimum of 8 players of colour in
their 30 man squad
2. All of these 8 players must be given reasonable game time - monitored weekly by the national selectors
3. The status quo of two black wingers is no longer acceptable
4. A minimum of 4 players of colour must be in every match 22
5. At all times, 2 players of colour must be on the field[/b]
2. All of these 8 players must be given reasonable game time - monitored weekly by the national selectors
3. The status quo of two black wingers is no longer acceptable
4. A minimum of 4 players of colour must be in every match 22
5. At all times, 2 players of colour must be on the field[/b]
According to the Collins dictionary and a quota system can
be defined as a system which limits or promotes certain shares over others.
Investorwords defines a quota system as being system based on hiring or
admissions policies requiring a set percentage of a minority group to be hired
or admitted. I will be using the that quota system set for the Vodacom Cup in
South Africa next year, to argue that excluding players in favour of others is
not the answer .
The South African Rugby union, (SARU), will reintroduce the
controversial racial quota system in one of its domestic rugby competitions
next year. Vodacom Cup teams will have to pick at least seven in their squads
with at least five playing at a time. According to Gerald Imray, (NZHERALD),
SARU feels that South Africa hasn’t made progress in changing rugby in South
Africa. SARU President Oregan Hoskins argues that this system will be a
critical step in transforming rugby, which was originally historically
restricted for whites; and had been related to the racist apartheid regime.
What SARU has not realised is that the system was already tried in 1994, and
then canned as it was seen as ‘window dressing. This is correct as a quota
system is not a sufficient solution given still excludes.
South Africa was first introduced to rugby through the
University of Stellenbosch. It was here that rugby was played first, and only
played by young Afrikaner men. As rugby became a strong part of Afrikaner
student culture, rugby had transformed into a salient feature at Stellenbosch.
Unfortunately with the rise of Afrikaner nationalism during the 1930s and the
1940s, rugby had become a pro Afrikaner Cultural expression (Grundlingh, 1994).
As a result, Rugby was only part of one ethnic group. Nauright,(1996) agrees by
saying some Afrikaners/whites tried asserting their historical cultural values
and beliefs as opposed to embarking on a path towards cultural assimilation for
the new South Africa. After South Africa had won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, it
was clear that the white administrations that still controlled key roles in the
new unified SARU actually had little interest in the development of rugby in the
black communities. Many of the
development programmes were little more than showpieces for the
International community (Black & Nauright, 1998).
According to Alison Donnelly,(ScrumQueens), SARU has been
involved in creating a new initiative for South African women’s rugby. Mahlubi
Puzi, SARU Manager for women’s rugby, claims that programmes will be made to
help develop women’s rugby. This will see several workshops and training
sessions to help develop coaches and players in more remote rural areas of South
Africa. According to Puzi, the sharing of rugby knowledge is pivotal for female
players, coaches and administrators. This is an attempt to fill in a gap by
concentrating on applying proper training methods to assist methods; skills;
drills; fitness; conditioning and nutrition. The question has to be asked as to
why SARU isn’t doing the same for black communities in general, for males who
may also not have accessibility as well as facilities to be able to play rugby
as opposed to the quota system.
According to Sekar, (2009) the controversial quota system
was essential for cricket developing in South Africa. Sekar described it as
being positive discrimination against negative discrimination which denied any
non-white players the chance to compete on merit, as well as seeing a quota
system restoring balance on an even playing field. ‘They also forget that the
previous quota system not only excluded non-white talent, but also forced an
exodus of white and mixed race talent too’.
Rugby unions should focus on development programmes, instead
of racially discriminating against certain players by means of a quota system,”
Kriel said. A quota system based on race will not develop new players, because
institutions and provinces merely import black players, who are already playing
the game, in order to comply with quota requirements. A rugby forum who was
made aware of the decision also brought forth a good argument:‘They create
doubt in players minds on weather they should be there or not, and
disadvantages white players who may be better than one of the black players but
isn't selected because of the colour of his skin.’
Conclusion: “Sports
should not be dismissed even by those who have no interest in them, because
they are integral to Social formation and important to many cultures”
Although sport plays a prominent role in the shaping of
identities its very form posits an “us” against a “them”. As such, sport can
even exaggerate existing barriers within a society, or in between societies.
You are taking on an very interesting topic. The idea of a racial quota is really weird. It's sad that such racial discrimination still exists.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you should hyperlink.