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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. [Volume 39, Number 2. 11th March 1976]

Black Sportsmen Get Organised

Black Sportsmen Get Organised

Black and coloured sportsmen were not prepared to put up with apartheid sport. They wanted the right to represent their country internationally, and to play sport on an equal footing with all sportsmen in the Republic, regardless of the colour of their skin.

From 1956 onwards there were sporadic attempts by black sportsmen to challenge apartheid sport both inside South Africa and at an international level. In 1956 the International Table Tennis Federation expelled the whites only South African body and gave affiliation to the organisation which effectively represented black South Africans and was pledged to non-racialism.

This was the first time the world had heard the term 'non-racial sport' mentioned in a South African context. This first major victory against a racist sports organisation encouraged non whites in other sports to press for justice and fair play.

In 1958 the South African Sports Association was formed to attack in a coordinated way white supremacy and exclusiveness on the sportsfields of South Africa. But the response was frustration. The international sporting bodies either ignored S.A.S.A.'s request for meetings, or referred them back to white South African sports bodies. The white South African sporting bodies had no intention or wish to give up their position of absolute control of national and international sport.

The frustration encountered during these four years before 1962 stiffened the determination of the leaders of non-racial sport to fight for the total abolition of racialism in South African sport. Whereas the aim of SASA had been international participation for black sportsmen within the framework of segregation with national sport, a new mood emerged. The South African Non Racial Olympic Committee (SAN-ROC) was formed in 1962 to push not only for international participation for black sportsmen, but also for integrated non-racial sport inside South Africa.

SAN-ROC rapidly became a popular and effective organisation amongst black and coloured sportsmen. Inside South Africa its support increased dramatically, gaining widespread support from the Republic black and coloured sportsmen. Internationally, SAN-ROC coordinated campaigns which resulted in whites-only South African sporting bodies being expelled from a number of international sporting bodies.

The South African Government replied by banning the SAN-ROC leadership and later the organisation. SAN-ROC went into exile, and is now based in London.