Contradictions and responses concerning the South African sport colour bar with special reference to the Western Cape

Abstract

The South African Colour Bar received wide coverage in the South African press during the 20th century. This paper traces the history of this phenomenon within a sport context. The South African Colour Bar was used to counteract a perceived Black peril and to unite the White English and Afrikaans speaking sections of the population. Legislation was passed to protect White interests, resulting in the marginalisation of Black people in education and industry. Resistance against this Colour Bar was not a unified action and sections of the Black community operated within the government organs that promoted it. Throughout all of this, British hegemonic imperialism and culture was not challenged by large sections of South African communities and with time they, particularly the elite amongst them, imitated British discriminatory practices. These practices were extended to the field of sport. This paper proposes that the Colour Bar in sport unfolded in a two-part process. The first, was the result of the social, economic and political defeat of the Afrikaner nation during the Anglo-Boer War (South African War) and the creation of a Black peril. The second was the practice of a Colour Bar in sport by Black (African and Coloured) communities. During the Apartheid era, South African historians shied away from this topic for fear of condoning a racist White regime. Consequently, this research attempts to expose this ‘internal discrimination’.

Keywords: Colour bar, sport, South Africa.