South Africa has been banned from bidding for the 2023 Rugby World Cup after the sport’s governing body failed to meet representation targets.
The nation’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula presented a report on the progress made by South Africa’s 19 sporting federations in terms of the opportunities offered to black sportspeople.
During a speech at the launch of the report – titled
Eminent Person Group on Transformation in Sport Report for 2014/15 – Mbalula said that South African Rugby (SARU) had not met its transformation targets and would be banned from hosting and bidding for major international tournaments until new figures were published and scrutinised in 2016/17.
Other federations found in breach – Athletics South Africa (ASA), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Netball South Africa (NSA) – received the same punishment.
Mbalula said the report findings and the subsequent action was “the right thing to do” considering the “grave injustices of the past”.
“The reality is that 84 per cent of the country’s under-18 year-old population grouping is black African and only 16 per cent is white, coloured and Indian,” he said. “To ignore this strategic reality from sustainability perspective alone would be suicidal. Thus the reason for sport organisations to transform rapidly had not only become compelling, it had become fundamental.”
The sports minister added that he was considering other penalties such as the suspension or withdrawal of government funding and the withdrawal of political support and endorsements from sponsorships if non-compliance continued.
However, Mbalula reserved praise for the South African Football Association (SAFA), which had achieved transformation targets.
South Africa had been mooted as the frontrunner to host the tournament for the first time since 1995, when the Springboks won the tournament in the presence of Nelson Mandela. The nation bid for the last three Rugby World Cups but had failed each time.
Jurie Roux, chief executive of the SARU said he was "confident" that the suspension would be lifted following next year's results.
“Transformation is a key strategic imperative for SA Rugby to remain competitive and to survive in the sports landscape in our country. Our barometer for 2015 shows that we have achieved our target in 11 out of 13 dimensions as agreed with government," he added.
“We have made further progress on and off the field in 2016 to date and over the coming months our commitment to transformation will become even more evident."
