Affirmative action in South African sport : a moral game for all

A research report submitted to the faculty of humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Applied Ethics for ProfessionalsThe following paper examines the moral justification for affirmative action within South African sport, more specifically the forms pertaining to “preferential treatment” and “reverse discrimination”. The paper begins with an articulation of the nature of our sport as well as that of affirmative action, which in turn lays the foundation for my moral justification. South African sport, it seems, must share centre stage in our country’s reconciliation and nation-building process if we are to faster realise a substantively equal and non-racial society. I argue that by appropriately bringing about the right kind of integration in South African sport we can create a better country for all by reducing, inter alia, our racial and class disparities, racial prejudices and racism. That said, there appears to be a greater moral significance that comes from using “preferential treatment” and “reverse discrimination” in South African sport, as opposed to their complete absence.MT201