Die rol van sportisolasie as faktor in die daarstelling van 'n nuwe politieke bedeling in Suid Afrika, 1980-1992

English: The role of sports as a social and educational instrument should never be underestimated. In South Africa sport is sometimes referred too as a second religion and plays a very important role in many South African cultures. This was also the view of the antiapartheid movements in South Africa and throughout the world at the time of their decision to use sport as a mechanism against apartheid in South Africa. Since the National Party's apartheid policy was implemented m 1948, it almost immediately started playing a role in sport as well. Although sport was practiced separately before 1948, the implementation of apartheid enforced laws, which stated that black and white could not practice sport together. For the next three decades conflict between the National Party-government and the resistance movements against apartheid continued, with sport frequently being caught in-between. With the signed of the Gleneagles Agreement in 1977, the anti-apartheid movements gained more momentum in their struggle against apartheid in sport, because this agreement, signed by the heads of state of Commonwealth countries, pleaded for the abolishment of sporting ties with South Africa. The 1980s are seen as the nucleus of the struggle against apartheid in sport. Although the South African government was less involved in sports administration during the 1980s, the influence of the apartheid policy had already set the different structures in which sport was to be played. The anti-apartheid movements' campaign against apartheid in sport intensified during the 1980s, with the abolishment of all apartheid structures as their main objective. The South African sportsmen and -women also got involved in the struggle by trying t~ find new ways and alternatives to bypass the boycott action against apartheid in sport. Although the initiatives of these sports people were mainly in their own interest and for the furthering of their sporting careers, their attempts were not always very successful. This was mainly due to the strong grip that the political situation in South Africa had on sport in the country. It became clear that only a change in the political situation in South Africa would ensure the re-admission of South African sports people into the international sporting arena. The message was clear that the anti-apartheid movements would not accept normal sport in an abnormal society in South Africa. In their attempts to ensure international participation, South African sports people started denouncing apartheid, putting pressure on the government to enter into discussions concerning a new political dispensation for South Africa. The successful use of boycotts and resistance actions by the anti-apartheid movements contributed to the change in perspective by the South African sports people and assisted in the creation of a emotional resistance against the apartheid policy. For the sports people of South Africa the denouncement of apartheid was, at the end, the only way to ensure their rightful place in world sports in the future.