Uneven playing fields

THROUGHOUT South African sports history, black sports people were denied national representation.

- KIRU NAIDOO and SELVAN NAIDOO

Ron Elland and Precious McKenzie both left South Africa to represent Great Britain in the field of weightlifting.

Jasmat Dhiraj emigrated to England to play tennis, while Basil D’Oliveira left South Africa to represent England at cricket in 1966.

Ibert Johannson played regularly for Leeds United to become the first black player to play in the FA Cup Final at Wembley in 1956.

Dharam Mohan and the legendary golfer Sewsunker “Papwa” Sewgolum had their sporting careers mercilessly curtailed simply on account of the colour of their skin.

This denial of black sports people, together with the heightened political tensions after the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in Soweto, Johannesburg, served as a catalyst for the establishment of sports committees to fight against racial privilege in sport and society.

The South African Sports Association (Sasa) was founded in 1958 and was succeeded by the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (Sanroc) in 1963.