Equal access to sport is key to transformation, says Gayton McKenzie

Transformation in sport should be achieved by improving access rather than pursuing demographic targets, sports, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie says. 

In a written reply to a parliamentary question by EFF MP Thapelo Mogale about how he planned to tackle the slow pace of transformation in sport, McKenzie said the focus should be on “equality of access over equality of outcome”. 

Mogale made the point that representation in rugby, cricket and other sporting codes was not a true reflection of SA's demographics and wanted to know what measures had been put in place “to ensure that sporting quotas are adhered to by the different sporting federations”. 

McKenzie said he wanted to change the approach “because if we just keep doing the same things we’ve done before, then we are just going to get more of what we’ve been getting to date”. 

“There has been an overemphasis over the years on focusing on what I might call ‘equality of outcome’ when it comes to transformation in sport, meaning that our society tends to look at the demographic profile of people who succeed at 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 various sports from an early age on. Many professional tennis players, for example, started at the age of five. The game becomes second nature to such players,” McKenzie 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 just need an open patch of ground and a ball. To become a cricket bowler, you just 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 if therefore the critical challenge.” 

McKenzie said he had started the discussion with the department around building sporting facilities that could be located within accessible distance of clusters of schools. He was “shocked”, he said when taking office, to learn that only one in 10 schoolchildren were participating in sport. 

Regarding the revival of physical education and the school sports system, McKenzie said it was clear from 2023’s school sport indaba “that there has been little to no progress in establishing sustainable school sport leagues in less privileged communities, which constitutes the vast majority of where our children are affected”.

He said a new memorandum of understanding with the department of basic education was currently being discussed to give more intensive focus to the establishment of school sports leagues and the setting up of structures to manage those leagues.

The minister said his department was also currently reviewing the club development programme, which has mainly focused on football and netball in both rural and urban areas. The aim of the programme was to create a bridge between informal and formal, mainstream sport and to address the obstacles that limit the participation of rural and township clubs from affiliating into mainstream sport.  

“The result of this programme indicates a serious need of building capacity and addressing the infrastructure needs of clubs. The discussions, between rugby and cricket, have centred on creating a conducive space for township and rural clubs to be brought into the mainstream of their clubs," the minister said.

ensorl@businesslive.co.za