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CONVERSATION STARTER: SPORT AND POLITICS
COVERSATION STARTER: SPORT AND POLITICS The first of two new books explores the paradox of sports and politics on the University campus
By Winston Kloppers
Blowing Against the Wind is a set of two books, which gives an account of sports and politics on a university campus, that became connected to much larger forces in the community and, with time, became a groundswell of opposition to apartheid. Volume 1 is presently with the publishers, while Volume 2 is still in the research phase.
The paradox of playing sports and protesting apartheid lies at the heart of Blowing Against the Wind . Using a combination of narrative, photography, first-person interviews and published writings, the research draws together a powerful collage that tells the story of sports and politics on a university campus during apartheid. It is a kind of social history that locates the evolution of sports and politics within the context of the times or, more specifically, in three very different decades: the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
The 1960s were a period of acquiescence. To understand this period, one has to consider the broader political context of the era that includes Sharpville, the Rivonia trial and other events. Nonetheless, it was a decade in which the signs of political restlessness on the campus were already in evidence. Students found solace and unity in sport, which played an important role in uniting the student body. The annual inter-college sport festivals (1969 –1971), in particular, were the first mass gatherings of students, organised by the Student Representative Council (SRC) and sports bodies. It set the stage for them to work together and gave them a sense of pride, belonging and the courage — as well as the skills — to later confront the administration.
The 1970s were a time of student rebellion against the University administration as a representative of the apartheid government. This was largely the result of the rapid growth of the Black Consciousness Movement through, for example, the South African Black Intervarsity Council (SABIC) at all the ethnic universities. In the context of sports, this period also accounts for the rapid growth at UWC of organised sport in the early Seventies.
The 1980s. Heyta! Ta! Heyta! TaTa! Political violence reached
a crescendo in the 1980s, stirred by the terrible impact of apartheid legislation, politically instigated murders and counter insurgencies. Political unrest, a continuous state of emergency, and a feud over the control of non-racial sport nationally, caused many of UWC’s sports clubs to shut down, either intermittently or permanently. The late 1980s also witnessed the resurgence of sport at UWC.
While there is substantial documentation on politics during UWCs early years, relatively little is known about campus sports during this period. It does not help that the archival material available on the subject is sparse. It is this gap in the historical archive that these books seek to redress, as a matter of political memory but also as a record of what is possible when student activism becomes part of the change equation — in politics and in sport.
The voices of students appear at the end of each of the decades, giving expression to the student struggles and experiences as they sought to play sport and advance politics at UWC. In this regard, alumni may submit a brief account of their personal recollections of the time they spent at UWC. They may also submit photographs and/or poetry written during this period of resistance against apartheid.
From 1973 to 1977, black poetry burst onto the campus scene. It was new and spoke to how I felt, how we all felt, when humiliated daily by the hand of apartheid and how many of us suffered under the system of poverty.
Professor Jonathan Jansen,
Editor of Blowing Against the Wind Vol. 1 says, “Blowing Against
the Wind offers a lens on the micro-politics of sports on one campus where the physical expression of the athlete and the social agitation of the protestor were never quite separable under the oppressive conditions of the first three decades of UWC’s existence. What we now have is an understanding of the day-today struggles for recognition from the administration, the sheer hardship of trying to get a sporting code off the ground, the triumphs and setbacks of every move to advance sports and transform campus life, the high costs of resistance and the seduction of collaboration (with white sports), and decisions of principle and painful compromises in the course of playing for time.
“That time would eventually come, as apartheid crumbled under the weight of resistance that started with even small acts of defiance, including sports on campus.”
Winston Kloppers, is the author of volumes 1 and 2 of Blowing Against the Wind . He is a retired senior lecturer and alumnus at UWC. For submissions for volume 2, Mr Kloppers can be contacted on 084-622-6634.
