The Western Province Football Board and the Implementation of the Double Standards Resolution
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i A Matter of Life and Death? The Western Province Football Board and the Implementation of the Double Standards Resolution. A Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degreeUniversity of Master of Artsof inCape Historical Town Studies Department of Humanities University of Cape Town 2015 Ryan Kahn The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town ii This work has not been previously submitted in whole, or in part, for the award of any degree. It is my own work. Each significant contribution to, and quotation in, this dissertation from the work, or works, of other people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced. 7/6/15 iii Abstract This dissertation focuses on assessing and questioning the perceived ‘politicisation’ of the non-racial South African Council on Sport (SACOS) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Through an institutional case study of the organisation’s largest provincial football association (the Western Province Football Board (WPFB)) and its implementation of the ostensibly political Double Standards resolution, it re-examines the concept that politics captured the sports movement. Instead it is argued that sporting impetuses based in a desire for institutional survival retained primacy within the Board’s decision making. In fact primarily, political ideologies were utilised to deliver sporting goals and not the other way around. This analysis is then extrapolated to demonstrate far-reaching conclusions around the relationship of sport and politics, Coloured identity and the meaning of the anti-Apartheid movement. iv Acknowledgements This work would not have been completed without the help and considered guidance from a variety of sources. I would firstly like to thank the staff at the Mayibuye Archives at UWC and to Chrischene Julius and the team at the District Six Museum for the use of their facilities and their assistance. Deep gratitude must also be extended to those who participated in interviews: Eric Dalton, Ebrahim Abdullah, Joe Schaffers and Martin Neewat. They are thanked not only for their time and effort but also for not becoming too visibly annoyed by my inane line of questioning. I am indebted to my supervisor, Vivian Bickford-Smith whose expertise and support are thoroughly appreciated. Finally, a special thanks must be given to my parents, Anthony and Oonagh Kahn. Truly, without you this process would never have come to fruition. Your encouragement and assistance have been invaluable. v Table of Contents Abbreviations Used ...................................................................................................... vi List of Figures .............................................................................................................. vii Notes on Terminology ................................................................................................. viii Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 – The Structure and Culture of the WPFB pre-Double Standards. .............. 30 Chapter 2 – The Football Structure in the Western Cape ............................................ 58 Chapter 3 – The Implementation of the Double Standards Resolution ........................ 77 Chapter 4 – Unity ...................................................................................................... 110 Chapter 5 – Uncertainty ............................................................................................ 131 Chapter 6 – Confusion .............................................................................................. 147 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 171 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 183 vi Abbreviations Used CRC Coloured Persons Representative Council FASA Football Association of South Africa FAWP Football Association of Western Province FCSA Football Council of South Africa FPL Federation Professional League ICC International Cricket Council IFA International Football Association IOC International Olympic Committee LFA Local Football Association LMC Local Management Committee NEUM Non-European Unity Movement NFL National Football League NPSL National Professional Soccer League NSC National Sports Congress SAB South African Breweries SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation SACB South African Cricket Board SACBOC South African Cricket Board of Control SACFA South African Coloured Football Association SACOS South African Council on Sport SACU South African Cricket Union SAFA South African Football Association SAIFA South African Indian Football Association SANFA South African National Football Association SARU South African Rugby Union SASF South African Soccer Federation SASL South African Soccer League UCT University of Cape Town UWC University of the Western Cape WCSA Western Cape Soccer Association WPCB Western Province Cricket Board WPCOS Western Province Council on Sport WPFA Western Province Football Association (WPFB unit) WPFA (Hartleyvale) Western Province Football Association (White) WPFB Western Province Football Board WPIFA Western Province Indian Football Association WPPSU Western Province Primary Schools Sports Union WPU Western Province United vii List of Figures Figure (i): Units circa 1977. ................................................................................................. 33 Figure (ii): Main Fields pre-1977. ........................................................................................ 34 Figure (iii): National Structure of WPFB Football. ................................................................ 38 Figure (iv): Simplified Football Structure in the Western Province. ...................................... 62 viii Notes on Terminology This work’s subject had three regularly used names – in official and non-official documents it is referred to indiscriminately as the Western Province Football Board, the Western Province Association Football Board and less commonly the Western Province Soccer Board. In the interests of clarity the most common of these, the Western Province Football Board (WPFB), will be used exclusively unless quoted from elsewhere. The terms Coloured, White, Indian and African will be used in this work as written. This will not refer to any innate concept of race, but rather to the classifications provided by the Apartheid government. In respect of this, the terms will be capitalised and will not require inverted commas. When the term Black is used, it is as a grouping term for Indians, Coloureds and Africans. The Maitland-based Board affiliate, the Western Province Football Association, had the same name as the amateur White Western Cape football association. In the White press, to avoid confusion, the common practice was to change the name of the Maitland-based association to the Western Province Union.1 There is however no record of the Maitland- based group using or even accepting this practice and therefore it is felt imprudent not to use this group’s official name. To differentiate, the White amateur association will always be referred to as WPFA (Hartleyvale) after its home ground. 1 A practice also applied with less obvious motivation to the Cape FA. 1 Introduction Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.1 John Carlin described the story of the 1995 Rugby World Cup depicted in his monograph, Playing the Enemy,2 as a tale that ‘felt like a fable, or a parable, or a fairy story’.3 Many South Africans must have felt similarly on the 11th June 2010. This was the day that South Africa, and Africa, first played host to the world’s largest single sport tournament, the FIFA World Cup. South Africans of all races, classes, religions and genders tuned in expectantly to see their team take the field for the opening match against Mexico. The game ticked by through a poor first half with Bafana Bafana4 mostly on the back foot. Then in the fifty-fifth minute, Siphiwe Tshabalala broke clear of the Mexican defence and with his left foot unleashed a bullet of a strike which nestled perfectly into the top corner. The roar was deafening. The British newspaper, the Daily Express, described the reaction: We heard it (the roar) all right. We heard it blow away all the cynicism about bringing the World Cup to Africa. We heard it roar the power of sport to do some good in what is often a difficult and troubled world.5 In one moment, all of the fears and consternations held domestically and internationally about South Africa hosting the event – the finances, the crime, the lack of transport infrastructure – melted away. Even the constant drone of the vuvuzela felt somehow less offensive. In that moment, outside of Mexico, it would have been difficult to find anyone in 1 Attributed to Bill Shankly, various. 2 John Carlin, Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation (New York, Penguin Press, 2008). Also made into a 2009