It’s hard to take Fikile Mbalula seriously. From the rubbish he tweets, to a lot of the garbage he says and of course those press releases that often get published before they’ve been proof-read - like the “Transmutation Agreement” his department has with SA Rugby.
Mbalula shouts a lot. Uses big words. Ties phrases together that are just nonsense. He is often late for functions, meetings and briefings.
That may seem petty and having little to do with the important work his ministry does, but it all adds up.
So taking Mbalula seriously is not something I can do. And that applies to his musings on transformation which this week made for big headlines, had social media aflutter and heated up radio airwaves.
Transformation and discussions thereof are absolutely imperative in broader South Africa, not only sport.
On the same day Mbalula was shouting about transformation in sport, the Commission for Employment Equity released its annual report showing that last year white people made up 68.9 percent of the workforce in top management positions.
Of those top managers, 78.6 percent are men. Transformation, according to the Commission’s chairperson Tabea Kabinde was occurring much too slowly.
It is the same in sport.
The means to address transformation in sport is often not as sexy as to shout about the number of black players in the Springbok or Proteas teams.
To address transformation, honestly and properly involves long discussions and better understanding of what sports are doing at grass roots level - in your neighbourhood, suburb, city and province.
And that is not about an AB de Villiers, a Dale Steyn, Tendai Mtawarira, Mignon du Preez, Wayde van Niekerk or JP Duminy coming to a school to hit, kick, throw and catch a ball or run around with the kids while the TV cameras film them.
It’s about establishing facilities, providing equipment and expertise and then MAINTAINING those facilities and SUSTAINING those programmes to ensure youngsters get the opportunity to play and participate in sport.
Maintaining and Sustaining requires a great deal of buy-in from government and perhaps it is in that area where Mbalula’s energies would be better served.
It is his responsibility to get his colleagues responsible for local government, in education and the provincial sports departments under his auspices to work openly and honestly with communities - especially those in the poorest regions of the country to ensure facilities are maintained and programmes are sustained.
Make no mistake, the sports federations carry a lot of responsibility themselves - they have the expertise and the scientific data which should ensure transformation is accelerated.
Their work in this regard must open and honest too.However, they need more support from Mbalula and that does not come in the form of shouting and applying what are largely meaningless punitive measures as he did this week.
The Star