Is the quota system damaging South African sport?

The stance taken by United Cricket Board, who forced selectors to pick a second black player, Justin Ontong for the third Test against Australia six weeks ago, caused outrage.

But sports minister Ngconde Balfour is pushing ahead with similar initiatives for all national sports.

Formal quotas already operate in virtually all of South African domestic sports.

In provincial cricket, sides are currently required to field three black or coloured cricketers in every match and next season the quota will be four.

Do you agree with South Africa's controversial quota system?

Generally, I am forced to subscribe to the fact that quotas are a very unfair way of solving any problem. Usually they are a short-term means of achieving a long-term goal. However, the stage of development in which South Africa finds itself generally and, in this specific case, in terms of sporting matters, makes a quota system for a very thriving black sporting community an absolute necessity.

This will send a very strong signal to the sporting world, and for that matter to the world in general, that South Africa is on the right track in its long and painful recovery from the dark era of Apartheid.
Caroline Valentine, Cairo

South Africa is not a unique case - Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) has a very similar history and despite the terrible problems of that country, race has not played a part in its national cricket selection: the team is still mainly white because the best players are white, and the talented black players are coming through.

Picking a team which is not your strongest - no matter how well-intentioned the reason - is cheating. It is cheating the opposition and the spectators out of taking part in and watching the game at its highest level, and cheating the team itself out of its best chance of winning.
Robert, England

It's not just cricket that is suffering. The South African men's hockey team were prevented by their governing body from participating in the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The official reason given was that the team wouldn't be good enough to win a medal.

What is an open secret is that the real reason for the team not going was the lack of a suitable number of non-white players in the side. The players worked hard to qualify for the Olympics, only to have the opportunity taken away in completely the wrong way.

The outcome is that several of the team have quit playing international hockey, which is a great loss to the game as a whole. One question that needs to be asked: is the new South African government trying to put in place its own version of apartheid? It certainly seems to be going that way.
Paul, England

It seems to me that a system which prevents selectors from choosing their best 11 cannot be said to be fair, at least in the short term. However, that is not to say that the policy is wrong. If black players are allowed to perform for their country, greater numbers of black South African children are likely to be encouraged to play cricket.

This should yield a sufficient pool of young black African talent to allow future teams to be both mixed race AND selected on merit. When viewed in the long term, the policy will lead to a team selection that is both racially representative of the country AND fairly chosen. Surely that can only be a good thing.
Jim, UK

For now I think it's the right way to go. South Africa is a unique case.
Liam, Australia

Internationally, no. In domestic cricket it is a good idea undoubtedly. But at international level ability should be the only criteria that enters the equation. Surely it is bad for South African cricket to force players who are not ready into the test arena early.

Why should what colour skin you have give you an advantage over teammates of an equal and sometimes greater talent? Apartheid was a dark time, but now we have left that era behind, black South Africans should obtain their place in the side through hard work and good performances, not be gifted it by interfering politicians.
Joelios, UK

Surely this is not an area you should be forcing a race problem. In my view the 'best' players should be picked. Whether he/she be black or white. If you start putting people in to make up the quotas the performance of the teams may start to decline. Then you'll see the problems.
Paul Cullen, England

The compulsory inclusion of black players in the South African side may be beneficial in the long run, both for cricket and South African society. But discrimination is dicscimination; there is no such thing as 'positive discrimination' as it will always involve 'negative discrimination' on another party.

If you were a brilliant 18-year-old white South African cricketer, who, after all, would only have been 10 when apartheid ended, and were told you could not represent your country because of the colour of your skin, you would legitimately cry "racism."

The way to get more black players into the side is for the South African government to support intensive coaching schemes, and cricket in general, not discriminate against whites.
David, UK

Surely you should be good enough to play for the team. Whether you are white or black shouldn't matter.
Darren Pullinger, London, UK

I think the notion of including a player in the national side just because of his skin colour is absurd. Whatever happened to the-best-man-for-the-job or selection-on-merit? It is all becoming way too political. You just need to take a look at the national rugby side and see what disarray they are in, with many players becoming disillusioned and opting rather to play overseas.

This is going to lead to a great talent drain and we will eventually be the laughing stock of world sport instead of the world-beaters we have worked so hard to be! Is there a quota system in the national soccer team to include a minimum number of white players in a predominantly black team?
Chad D'Arcy, South Africa

The feeling is that a] The name SPRINGBOK must be abolished as it is a honourable name. b] S.A. rugby must be banned from international participatian in world rugby until S.A. teams are selected on merit and not by the politians.
Joe, S.A.

The SA government has only just eliminated all racist laws from the statute books, but now this idiotic minister is talking about passing a law to force sports bodies to field inferior players! This smacks of racism in reverse.

Huge amounts of money is being poured into black sport, it will happen sooner or later, so let it be a natural progression rather than a forced one. The players who lose out because of this system, are becoming bitter, and that leads to further racism and hatred. Lets mend the rifts rather than widen them.
Steve, UK

It's ridiculous and unbelievable in the 21st century. It devalues the honour of playing for your country and removes the incentive for both blacks and whites to try their best. And why should the current generation pay for the racist policies of a former government? Does Germany have a Jewish quota? Does New Zealand have a Maori quota?
Andrew Stevenson, New Zealand

I do not agree with the 'Quota' system.
1) This puts black players into sides they would not qualify for if ability was the criteria, then if they do not come up to standard, it is demoralising for the player and degrading for his race.
2) If more money were spent on coaching and facilities then in time players will rise to the surface naturally.
3) It is similar to demanding that two white players play football for South Africa, even if not good enough. The SA Football team would suffer from such a quota.
Mal Walker, Australia

Firstly, I am completely against bringing politics into sports. In this case, however, I agree with the United Cricket Board. I feel that the black population in South Africa have been unfairly treated in their motherland for way too long.

Even though apartheid is finally gone, the general public of the nation cannot see any of its black countrymen on the team. By looking at the SA team, one may think it is an entirely white country, when in fact the majority is black. It is important to integrate black players, to allow for the people of the South Africa to identify with their team. Thus, in this case, I agree with involving more black players in the South African team.
Arnob, USA

Ridiculous! Picking a player ahead of another purely on colour is racist. Legislating for this to occur once again enshrines racism in South African law. Sporting teams should be picked on merit.
Daryl, Australia

The best should be selected for the team, by enforcing a quota it could lead to a weaker side. It should not matter if the player is black or white it should be their ability that matters.
Clayton Tilsley, England

There may be a need for such legislation at sporting entry levels to ensure the most talented sports people get an opportunity to develop and impress. But it is a nonsense at international level (and several levels below) where only the best players should be selected to play for their country. If there is a problem to be addressed here it is in the attitudes of those coaches and selectors who may have a racist bias. Legislate them out of those key positions.
Chris Wheatley, New Zealand

This is just over-compensating. They have to realise that it will take time for SA to recover from years of treating black people different to white people, but it can't be solved by doing the reverse.
Graham, England

The best way to improve the quality of black cricketers is to increase the popularity of the game among them, rather than forcefully included them in the team based on the colour of their skin. It is bad for them and bad for the game. I think South Africa should spend more towards popularising the game among the blacks, which eventually will produce quality black cricketers.
Anka Sarkar, Los Angeles, USA