Non-Racial Sport in South Africa: A Documentary Analysis of the Struggle for International Recognition, 1946–1971

Abstract

This paper traces a historical trajectory of non-racial sport development in South Africa from 1946 to 1971. The year 1946 has been selected because of a letter that was sent by a South African black weightlifting federation to its international counterpart, thus kick-starting a post-Second World War sport resistance movement. Official minutes of South African sport federations, from across the political spectrum, are used to extract voices about an evolving non-racial movement. In addition, these minutes are supplemented by newspaper accounts and secondary source materials. A terminating date of 1971 concludes the study, as it marks one year from the formation of the Conference of National Non-Racial Sports Organisations. This paper thus provides a descriptive recovery of significant voices between 1946 and 1971 that were involved in the creation of a South African non-racial sport movement, a movement that would be recognized internationally.