Politicians square off in Cape Town

On the eve of the United Cricket Board's release of their Transformation Charter, a document issued late afternoon yesterday (Sunday subs) dealing with a firm pledge by the board to promote the game among players of colour, Manuel along with several other cabinet ministers and dignitaries gave standing ovations to Daryll Cullinan and Jacques Kallis for their centuries scored on the opening day of the five-day game on Saturday.

Manuel refused to support the rugby side last year and was seen to plant his feet firmly in the UCB camp in a motion of conciliation and New Year spirit while Tshwete took on Manuel's role by refusing to give his support to Hansie Cronje's side.

But Tshwete and his department could also find themselves in trouble with a large number of promising teenagers who feel they ``are being used as stooges'' and ``demeaned by the system'' through quota and affirmative action programmes which is placing pressure on the players across the country.

There have been claims made in Port Elizabeth and Durban, where the second and third Tests were played, that a group of angry teenagers were prepared to make a commitment to the UCB's charter and tell Tshwete's department to ``get off our case''.

A spokseman for the group who, at this stage wishes to remain anonymous, said the view is that they do not need political help to achieve their aim of one day playing for the country at places such as Newlands.

Tshwete is quoted as saying he would not support a ``lily-white'' team going to the World Cup in May and June while Dr Ali Bacher, managing director of the UCB, said it had not been possible to select a side of lesser strength for the fourth Test to satisfy a political expediency, despite South Africa's 3-0 lead in the series. For one thing it would have been seen as an insult to the tourists.

In the statement issued yesterday when the board released the charter, the UCB reaffirmed their commitment to the ``growth of the new , democratic and non-racial South Africa''.

The UCB, in line with the new culture and ethos of their policy, ``operating in an African context, reaffirm the board's moral and historic duty to ensure that South African cricket grows and flourishes among the truly disadvantaged of our society''. It must be recognised, says the statemnt in is preamble to the charter that the majority of the disadvantaged come ``from black African communities''.

One of the main thrusts of the statement is to highlight how the charter plans to facilitate a culture of non-racialism through the game. The charter was drawn up last November at a national vision conference which was preceded by 15 months of regional vision seminars at which the ``imabalances and injustice of the past were were shared''.

The implemenatation of the chater is to be monitored by a committee which was set up last month and will oversee the incoroporation of the 10 main thrust areas outlined in the charter.

The role of the UCB, democratisation, redress and representivity as well as a new costitutional along with competiveness and revenue are the first five areas under the charter; other sub-hedings highlight development, closing the gap, funding and distrubution, accountability and monitoring and writing the history of ``black cricket during the past century in South Africa''.

The monitoring committee is headed by Professor Andre Odendaal with Robbie Muzzell, Ray Mali, Maxwell Jordaan, Imtiaz Patel, Solomon Makhosana, Khaya Majola, Richard Harrison and Ram Salojee among the members.