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South African Non Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC)

SANROC was formed in 1962 - Dennis Brutus planned this new organisation after he had had a meeting with the South African National Olympic Committee and had discussed about the inclusion of Black South Africans in the Olympic team, which had been refused by the White organisation. He then told the meeting that he would form SANROC to challenge their membership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

At this time Dennis Brutus was then a Banned Person, which meant that he could not be seen with more than three persons, could not be employed by a school, could not be published and of course could not take part in any political activity.

Reg Hlongwane a weightlifter, was elected Secretary. He was then called in front of a judge and given a warning in terms of the Suppression of Communism Act. The fact that he was not a communist did not matter!

SANROC was formed in London by Chris de Broglio, a Mauritian accountant and weightlifter in exile.

South Africa and the Olympic Games

International sport is governed by international Federations for each code and by the International Olympic Committee- IOC- for the Olympic Games. The IOC is the highest authority in International sport but does not control the International Federations; the relationship is best described as interdependence.

It is obvious that there is a moral responsibility on IOC Executive members to ensure that the Olympic Charter is respected that fairplay is upheld and that all are guaranteed unhindered participation in the Olympic Games and International Sport.

This duty was not discharged by the IOC members towards Black South African sportsmen who have been discriminated against from the time South Africa became a member at the turn of the twentieth century. It appears that South Africa never gave the guarantees which are required of all new members. It appears that older members of the IOC have long persisted in covering up for Apartheid South African full knowledge of the extent of racism in South African sport.

From 1948 onwards the IOC played its full part in the merry-go-round with the White South Africans. Petitions and appeals which were sent by representative organisations of Black South Africans were referred back to the offending body in South Africa, the South African Olympic Committee. The IOC member, Mr Reginald Honey, was not instructed by the IOC to demand that these racist practices be abandoned. As life president of the South African Olympic Committee he was in fact responsible for the continuation of these racist practices.

The report of a commission which visited South Africa in 1967 shows that the matter was discussed in 1959, obviously through the pressure of the South African Sports Association. At this meeting the president of the IOC accepted without reserve the declarations of Mr Honey that there is no discrimination in South African sport in spite of detailed evidence to the contrary supplied in a memorandum by Dennis Brutus as secretary of SASA.

The 1963 RESOLUTION

The matter was next discussed at an executive meeting in 1962, through the intervention of the USSR member. Mr Avery Brundage then declared that “no progress has been registered in South Africa in site of the promises which were made by our Johannesburg member”. It was decided to write to the S.A Olympic Committee to ask for explanations.

At the IOC Session in Moscow later that year the IOC threatened to suspend the South African Olympic Committee if “the policy of racial discrimination enforced by its government is not changed before the October 1963 session”.

At the Baden-Baden session in 1963 South Africa’s line of defence changed completely as they realised that denials of racialism were no longer being accepted. Mr Honey declared that “Apartheid was an internal matter which did not concern the IOC. Non White athletes can train among themselves and competitions with Whites can take place outside South Africa”.

The IOC decided that important progress had been made but much still had to be done and adopted the following resolution:

“The National Olympic Committee of South Africa must declare formally that it understands and submits to the Spirit of the Olympic Charter and particularly articles 1 and 24. It must also obtain from its government, before December 31, 1963, modification of its policy of racial discrimination in sport and competitions in its territory, failing which the South Africans will be forced to withdraw from the Olympic Games”.

The Tokyo Olympics were not specifically mentioned in the resolution but in 1966, after South Africa’s exclusion from Tokyo, the defenders of South Africa maintained that Baden-Baden resolution only applied to the Tokyo Olympics. This was vital for their plan to get South Africa reinstated, even though by 1967 South Africa had still not complied with the 1963 resolution.

At the 1966 Rome Session of the IOC, Mr Reg Alexander, the Kenya member who had visited South Africa, reported favourably on the situation inside South Africa

On the basis that much was being done for Non-White sport and that the South African sporting authorities were not responsible for any shortcomings. During his visit Mr Alexander had extended invitations to two African athletes to compete in Kenya, to the great embarrassment and anger of the Kenya sports authorities, who immediately cancelled the invitation of a racial team from South Africa, even tough it was a Black one.

At this Session the IOC decided to accept a South African proposal that a mixed committee would be set up, composed of three White officials and three Black officials under the Chairmanship of Mr Frank Braun. This committee was to be responsible for the selection of a multi-racial team for the Mexico Olympics. By accepting this proposal the IOC was in fact turning its back on its own decision at Baden-Baden that there must be “a modification of the policy of racial discrimination in sport and competitions in its territory”. The IOC also decided that a three-man Commission should visit South Africa to investigate the situation and report back in Grenoble in 1967.

In June 1966 Dennis Brutus went to Jamaica for the Commonwealth Games where he canvassed the delegates about the situation in South Africa and the difficulties for SANROC to organise against the Apartheid Government.

Later in 1966 Dennis Brutus and Chris de Broglio went to Bamako for a meeting of the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa.

They met the President of the Supreme Council, Andre Hombessa, and the next day and discussed the South African case with him. He told them the matter was not on the Agenda but when he opened the Meeting he would say that the Item would be included and that he would name a commission to discuss the matter and report back to the Congress; On that Committee he would include Reg Alexander of Kenya (a friend of South Africa), the delegate of Tanzania and the delegate of Mali.

When the commission met of course Reg Alexander was in minority and was charged by the Commission to deliver their recommendations to the Congress. He was furious to call for the exclusion of South Africa from the Olympic Movement, which was the recommendation of the Commission.

Meeting of IAAF in Budapest

Later in 1966 Dennis and Chris de Broglio travelled to Budapest in Hungary to attend the Congress of the International Amateur Athletics Federation. They met with the African delegates. It was arranged that the Egyptian delegate would raise the SA Case under Sundries of the Agenda. When the Item arrived the Chairman, the Marques of Exeter, would not allow the Egyptian to speak and said he had promised to hear Abraham Ordia. There was uproar and Ordia was absent, as he knew the African delegates would object to his being allowed to speak, as they knew of his friendship with The Marques of Exeter Finally Lord Exeter closed the Meeting without a discussion of the South African problem.

Meeting of Weightlifting Federation

In 1966 SANROC also attended the Congress of the International Weightlifting Federation in East Berlin. Reg Hlongwane and Chris de Broglio attended. They got a majority of delegates to sign a declaration for the Inclusion of the South African Case on the Agenda, which was opposed by Oscar State, the Secretary. SANROC asked the East German delegate if he would raise the matter and he said he could not as his Federation was the host of the Championship but he would ask another Eastern European country to do so. At the same time there were African National Congress students who had gathered in East Berlin to demonstrate against the South African Team and the organisers wanted SANROC to call them off. An official of the Foreign Office arrived to join in the discussions. It was finally agreed that if they raised the South African Case at the meeting and a Commission of Enquiry was obtained, Sanroc would ask the students to cancel their demonstration. A commission of Enquiry was voted for.

The case of Weightlifting is very interesting. In 1946 the representative of non-white weightlifters wrote to the British Empire Games Weightlifting Federation asking that they be granted some form of recognition, as the officially recognised body for South Africa restricted its membership to only White weightlifters.

Oscar State replied

“I placed the matter before the Central Council. They considered your request with sympathy but it is with regret that I have to inform you that we cannot bring any pressure on the South African Weightlifting Federation to force them to recognise you. Their rules, as with all the national sporting associations in South Africa, will not permit of mixed contests between white and coloured athletes. This is also a condition of the South African Olympic Council; therefore no coloured man could be chosen to represent South Africa in international contests. For these reasons we cannot support your claim against the South African Weightlifting Federation.

However, we can suggest an alternative method for you to secure recognition for your lifters. We advise you to form an association of your own with some such like title as ‘The Indian (or Coloured) Amateur Weightlifters’ Association of South Africa’. If you can present us with a properly drawn-up constitution and rules, we are prepared to grant you full recognition as an affiliated association. Your members would then be entitled to our assistance on all lifting matters, your records would then be recognised as South African (Coloured) and if high enough, as British Empire records. Please advise me as soon as possible of your intentions in this matter.”

This is a classical example of international acceptance of racism in South African sport. It shows the disregard of the Olympic Charter, the Statutes of the International Weightlifting Federation and basic sportsmanship by the officials of an international organisation. The black Weightlifters did not accept the conditions set by Mr. State for recognition and in 1969 the white weightlifting organisation was finally expelled from the international organisation in the face of strong opposition from Mr. State, who was then secretary of the International Federation.

By that time Precious McKenzie, a black South African weightlifter, had left South Africa and settled in the United Kingdom in order further his career. When Chris de Broglio was in South Africa in 1963 he organised the Precious McKenzie show at Johannesburg and invited journalists and officials of weightlifting. As Precious was the best in his weight division it would send the message that he should be in the 1964 Olympic team. The South African Sunday Times had a headline that Precious McKenzie had qualified for the Olympics. The White Weightlifting Association tried to convince Precious to join their team if he would join an affiliate and resign from the Non-Racial Association of which he was a member but Precious said that he would not leave the Non-racial body until all Black weightlifters could compete on an equal basis with the White weightlifters. Precious went on to represent Great Britain at the Commonwealth Games in 1966, 1970 and 1974 and won Gold Medals and set Commonwealth records.