Cricket and politics: an ethnographic study of black cricketers in Gauteng

Abstract

The Republic of South Africa has just celebrated twenty years of democracy. Before this, the country had endured more than forty years of racism and apartheid. It was a system designed to destroy the socio-economic progress of the black majority, and therefore leading up to a dispossessed, landless peasants and a proletariat drawn from rural South Africa with very few economic opportunities within the racialized economy. The architects of apartheid used sport to enforce and to legitimise the ruling National Party regime. The game of cricket and the political narrative have long been inextricably intertwined in South Africa. The history of cricket in South Africa reflects the social and political process of the country since the arrival of the 1820 Settlers in the Eastern Cape. The game has been influenced by forces beyond the sports field, more so in post- apartheid South Africa. Transformation is a topical issue within cricket circles in South Africa and will continue to remain so until there is redress. The study of cricket and transformation can be viewed as a social metaphor that allows for the analysis on socio-economic issues in the country. The main objective of the study is to establish whether the Cricket fraternity has succeeded in reshaping the game, and in contributing to building a new national culture in a democracy. Cricket development initiatives have made a significant impact on the reconstruction of cricket and to a large extend sport. Despite the efforts to level the playing field through development initiatives, the reality of an unequal society continues to determine the ‘codes of behaviour and action’ of South African cricket. This thesis aims to show that the game of cricket has struggled to navigate the waters of transformation and change even in post-apartheid South Africa. The paper seeks to understand and analyse the reasons that prevent effective transformation as stipulated by the constitution of the Republic.