Quota demands on hold? Rugby 365

The sports department's plan for top sporting codes to implement 60-40 quotas favouring black players would be postponed until next year, according to a report.

This follows a meeting between Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula and representatives of athletics, cricket, football, netball and rugby in Johannesburg on Monday.

"After 20 years of our democracy, we should be ashamed of ourselves that there are still fundamental fault lines in society," Mbalula said at the meeting held at Olympic House.

On April 5, the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and Mbalula announced far-reaching measures to address the lack of transformation and development as indicated by a pilot study on the status of transformation in sport.

The quota system, as instructed in the national Sports Plan of 2011, would be aggressively implemented before the May elections, he said at the time.

"We will insist on a change from a 50-50 proportion to a 40-60 representation both provincially and nationally," he said at the beginning of April.

He warned of harsh punishment if there was any form of resistance to these measures including possibly withdrawing funding to bodies that failed to comply, withdrawing national colours to federations, and barring sponsorship.

"If rugby for instance has not adequately transformed a year from now, we will start to take action," Mbalula told Beeld newspaper.

SAPA