Sports Minister to meet with CSA over allegations of systemic racism

Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa says he has met with former cricketers who have raised issues of systemic racism within the national setup.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has been in the spotlight over the past month, with several players coming forward with their accounts of racial exclusion within provincial and national camps.

Mthethwa to meet with CSA 

In a statement issued out on Wednesday, Mthethwa says he had a meeting with the ex-players, and indicated that a day would have to be set aside to tackle this issue.

Mthethwa says CSA is also looking forward to engaging with the sports department over the matter.

The meeting will likely take place days after the game’s governing body set up the Cricket for Social Justice and Nation Building project, which is aimed at addressing the racism allegations.

“The national outcry by cricket fans, the greater South African public and broad stakeholder groups could not be ignored,” CSA said in a statement last Friday.

Cricket South Africa

CSA said it would set up a transformation ombudsman as part of its uniting process.

Transformation under the spotlight 

In July, Mthethwa met with former players from across sporting codes. The ex-players had requested a meeting with the minister to discuss issues of transformation in sport.

“I am so proud of all of you,” Mthethwa said at the meeting. “You have demonstrated to us that we still have heroes and heroines who are able to stand up and say enough is enough. I respect you for that and I will never forget each and every one of you who are here today.”

Nathi Mthethwa, Sports, Arts and Culture Minister

He added;

“We are not dealing with issues of administration here; we are dealing with injustice and basic human rights. It is now clear that this cancer is not just in one sporting code; it is a broader problem, internally and externally. Issues of discrimination are issues we are committed to and we will pursue this with all our might to ensure that we get to the bottom of it. It is our job as a Department to ensure that there is transformation in sport.”

Nathi Mthethwa, Sports, Arts and Culture Minister

Meanwhile, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture completed the assessment of the transformation progress in 19 sporting codes.

Swimming, hockey and cricket were singled out as the three codes that have fallen short of self-set transformation targets.

The respective federations have been given until the end of the week to make submissions as to why they should not be penalised.