Question NW965 to the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
25 October 2024 - NW965
Kobane, Mr G E to ask the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
How does his department intend to deal with transformation in Cricket South Africa?
Reply:
Cricket South Africa is the federation that runs much of the affairs of cricket in South Africa and my department is not aware of any challenges relating to transformation in the federation, Cricket South Africa, and as such no action has been planned or tabled with regards to this.
It may be, however, that the question relates to transformation in the sport of cricket more generally.
On that front, we have certainly identified numerous issues of concern, among them the fact that very few black African batters have emerged through the ranks into the highest levels of the sport. The most probably reasons for this are the fact that access to sporting equipment, coaching and facilities is still limited in rural and township schools, and being a batter costs substantially more than being a bowler.
This is not to say that we are seeing acceptable numbers of African, coloured and Indian bowlers coming through the ranks, merely that the crisis is more extreme in terms of batting.
My Ministry is therefore already working actively on a plan to make cricket more accessible to a far larger group of young people so that there can be a natural throughput of players at the higher levels.
The insistence on quotas has created exposure and opportunities for players of colour, but quotas are clearly not a sustainable and long-term solution, because the lack of players, proportionally, at the highest levels, is not the cause of the transformation dilemma, but rather a symptom of school and club systems that favour children with access to resources, and not just children with great talent.
As a first step, my Department is already engaging with stakeholders and sponsors to find children of talent to provide them with 120% scholarships at cricket schools throughout the country.
This initiative is not limited only to cricket and will be used for other sporting codes and arts and culture disciplines too.
In the longer run, our plans to reintroduce sport through our MoU with the DBE will also pay dividends, including for cricket.
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