OPINION: Racial quotas in South African netball make no sense

For all the criticism over the federation’s controversial policy on quotas, the silence in reaction by Netball South Africa (NSA) has been deafening.

Though the organisation’s current leadership could point fingers at their predecessors, who initially enforced racial targets at top-flight domestic events, it wouldn’t do much to explain why the rules haven’t changed. Especially considering this is not the first time the issue has been raised.

In 2010, NSA launched a transformation policy which required at least five black or white players in a squad of 12 at the SA Netball Championships.

At the time (led by a previous executive) the federation admitted it was not an ideal situation, but officials felt it was the “fairest” approach and they received backing from the International Netball Federation.

The flaws in the policy were made immediately evident at the national championships, however, when an all black Central Gauteng team were docked six points for not fielding any white players, and therefore lost a match against Boland which they had actually won.

So, in an apparent attempt to drive transformation and provide opportunities to previously disadvantaged players, the federation implemented a policy which punished teams for including too many of those same players.

It never made sense when it was first applied, and it doesn’t make sense now.

Ten years on, and the Sunbirds lost a spot in the Telkom Netball League final due to the same policy.

To take points from teams at domestic competitions is a lazy approach to transformation, and it’s entirely unfair.

For all the people who should take responsibility for a lack of equality in SA sport, the players and coaches should be last on that list, if they’re included at all.

Administrators and politicians lie at the core of the problem, and while they do little to nothing to fix the ongoing issue, the easiest way to make them look proactive is by punishing players and coaches for something they can do nothing to resolve.

On top of that, to apply a transformation quota which negatively affects the very people it is supposed to assist is by definition a flawed policy.

The lack of response from NSA suggests they haven’t even taken the time to consider their position before applying long-standing rules.

If they’re going to enforce such controversial policies, however, they should at least be ready to explain themselves when questions are raised.

Until then, their silence speaks volumes. And it’s not very flattering.

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