Banning Countries

South Africa: Case Study

In 1991, South Africa began to move closer to rejoining the world sports community Monday when its parliament voted to repeal the Population Registration Act of 1950, which served as the foundation for virtually all apartheid measures. It was the last of three major apartheid laws whose repeal had been demanded by the International Olympic Committee and other world sports bodies before readmission of the country would be considered.xvi

However, many opposed the return of South Africa, which has not competed in the Olympics since 1960, to international sporting events since it could have defeated the purpose of the boycott imposed on the country. However, in June 1991, leaders of the European Community lifted their sports boycott of South Africa because "important progress" has been made in abolishing apartheid. Satisfied that South Africa has committed itself to abolishing discrimination in sports, the International Olympic Committee lifted a 21-year-long ban on the nation, allowing its athletes to compete in the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona. South African leaders were gratified by the IOC's decision, saying it showed that the world was taking seriously President F. W. de Klerk's efforts to dismantle the legal underpinnings of apartheid. But one sports federation, the South African Council on Sport, strongly criticized the move, saying that millions of black South Africans lack basic rights of citizenship.

The sports ban on South Africa was by far the longest boycott of that country by the international community, preceding other commercial and political boycotts that have piled up over the years in an attempt to force South Africa to abandon racism as official policy. In fact, the IOC's decision coincided with reports from Washington indicating that President Bush was prepared to lift trade sanctions that were imposed against South Africa in 1986. Lifting of the sports ban was based on a recommendation from the Apartheid and Olympism Commission, set up by the IOC in 1988 with the participation of black African officials, to examine circumstances under which South Africa might be admitted to the Games.

One member of the commission, Keba Mbaye, a Senegalese jurist, said that while the commission members thought that South Africa was well on its way to abolishing discrimination in sports, the commission is also hoping to encourage further reforms in opening the nation's sports training sites, competitions and financial resources to all races. He warned that the decision could be reversed if patterns of discrimination against nonwhite athletes emerge either in team selection processes or in the use of training sites.xvii

South Africa was expelled from Olympic competition by the IOC in 1970 because of the country's policies of racial discrimination against non-whites. But it has not competed in the Olympics since the 1960 Summer Games in Rome, because of threats of boycotts in 1964 and 1968 by African nations and countries in the Soviet bloc. The 1972 Olympics in Munich and the 1976 Games in Montreal were threatened with boycotts by African nations protesting the participation of countries who had had sports relations with South Africa. Since the country's return to international athletic competition, South Africa has successfully transitioned to a democratic society. Though not without conflict, majority black rule has been elected into power under President Nelson Mandella.