2. The Lily-White Boys
By KENNETH MACKENZIE
NINETEEN-S1XTY is going to be a big year in South African sport. In the winter a New Zealand rugby team is coming to tour the country; we are sending a team of athletes to the Olympic Games; and towards the end of the year a cricket team leaves to tour Britain. And it is also going to be a big year for our new breed of sportsmen-politicians. • A few, years ago the non-white sports adminis- trators discovered that the traditional South African colour bar in sport was something that the rest of the sporting world looked upon with dis- approval, and that this disapproval could be used as a weapon. At first there were free-lance skirmishes by individuals. But just over a year ago an organisation was formed—the South African Sports Association—which has influential backing (Alan Paton, for instance) and energetic officers, which has been exerting formidable pres- sure. It is a non-racial organisation and represents almost all branches of non-white sport.
White sporting bodies were invited to attend its first annual conference last month; all refused. In fact, South African whites have been looking on this new development, with pained -distaste. Sport here is discussed as frequently as the weather is in England. But it is a 'serious subject, even a solemn one. To bring in politics is, in their view, like mixing politics and religion. This distaste is now growing into alarm.
Consider some of the achievements of the sport- ing rebels so far, The international table tennis authorities have been persuaded to refuse recogni- tion to the whites-only table tennis body in South Africa and to recognise the non-racial (in practice non-white) body. This means that before a white team can tour the country permission has to be obtained from the non-whites. Recently an Australian team was invited. The non-whites gave their permission on condition that there would be no segregation among the spectators. This condi- tion proved unacceptable, and the tour was can- celled. The Government has retaliated by refusing passports to non-white table tennis players wishing to go overseas.
A similar situation is likely to arise in soccer. There have been two applications to the interna- tional authorities by the non-whites, and they are gaining support. The South African Sports Association scored a small but significant triumph in Cape Town recently. A Brazilian soccer team was passing through on their way to Portuguese East Africa, and eleven carefully selected pale Brazilians agreed to play a local white team. SASA sent a telegram of protest to the President of Brazil; he immediately sent a telegram hack forbidding the match, much to the fury of the whites.
In the Olympic field the whites are also on the defensive. Their representative recently promised that there would be no discrimination in choosing the team. This is a revolutionary statement : there
undoubtedly has been colour discrimination in the past, and it will be interesting to see how this promise is kept. There is not a lot of non-white talent of the right standard available, but there is some. Two weight-lifters recently produced better figures than the best whites of their weight.
There are several excellent boxers (how will the boxing team be picked? Will white be allowed to fight non-white—at present absolutely taboo?).
In cricket, SASA won a victory in forcing the abandonment of a proposed tour this year by an unofficial West Indies team. They would have played against non-whites only, and it was said that the organisers of the tour had agreed to segregated seating for spectators. Many non-white sportsmen and administrators supported the tour in spite of this, and they had some strong argu- ments: the tour, they said, would demonstrate that non-white cricket here was of world standard and worthy of recognition; and it would publicise
the injustices of apartheid. But SASA fought them on a principle—that it is wrong to accept or impose racial discrimination—and won. Now they
are turning their attention to the forthcoming tour of Britain. They have asked that non-whites be considered (there are undoubtedly men worthy of selection). If this is refused, as it almost certainly will be, SASA, with the help of its allies in Britain, will agitate to have the tour cancelled.
They are lighting a similar fight against the New Zealand rugby tour. In deference to South African prejudices, the New Zealand rugby authorities agreed to exclude Maoris from the touring team : the All Blacks will be all white. This has given additional ammunition to SASA and aroused a promising uproar in New Zealand itself. It is un- likely that the tour will be stopped; but it is also unlikely that there will ever be another—a bitter blow to white sports lovers.
This is much more than just a sporting problem. If the colour bar broke down on the sports fields it could not be maintained elsewhere. What the men of SASA are doing, consciously, is playing their part in the liberation of the country. And it may prove to be an important part. With virtually no parliamentary representation in South Africa, the non-whites' only hope of influencing the course of events is to build up an intolerable pres- sure on the Government. There is a good deal of natural pressure, through internal boycotts and campaigns of non-cooperation, and international trade boycotts are also, paradoxically, a healthy thing for South Africa at the moment. And a sporting boycott would increase the pressure ten- fold. White South Africans would be deeply hurt : they might even feel guilty.
So if there are any English cricketers who wish to become heroes of the liberation (without any undue discomfort to themselves)—who wish to earn the gratitude of something like 12,000,000 people—then let them refuse to play against the lily-white Springboks when they come.
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