By Prof Dr Steve Cornelius, Sports Law Centre, University of Pretoria, South Africa
South Africa was one of the first countries to establish a national anti-doping agency during the 1990s. In fact, the establishment of the South African Institute for Drug-free Sport (SAIDS) predated the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) by almost two years. Over the years, SAIDS has served South African and global sports well in the fight against doping in sport.
However, one of the difficulties with pioneering initiatives is that one often gets overtaken by developments and improvements in strategies. It is easy to get bogged down in the perception that one is doing well, because one was the pioneer who, at one stage, set the pace and provided an example for others to follow. The recent history of the world is littered with the skeletons of once mighty business empires that once dominated the markets with innovative ideas, only to be relegated to the pits filled with ancient dinosaur remains. One only has to refer to Nokia, who once dominated the global mobile ‘phone industry: or Blackberry, who pioneered the transmission of emails and instant messages on their revolutionary mobile ‘phones. If the names do not ring a bell, look them up on Google.
And so, it turns out that the South African Institute for Drug-free Sport Act 14 of 1997 (the SAIDS Act) is now beginning to show its age. It was once amended somewhat belatedly in 2006 to account for the adoption of the World Anti-Doping Code in 2004, but has, for the most part, remained untouched for more than 25 years. The only problem is that the World Anti-Doping Code has been amended three times since 2004. The current Code took effect on 1 January 2021.
WADA advised SAIDS and the South African government in November 2022, that there were various aspects of the SAIDS Act that no longer complied with the new WADA code and requested South Africa to comply. A process to amend the SAIDS Act had already been initiated in 2020, in anticipation of the adoption of the 2021 WADA Code. However, for various reasons, this process stalled. COVID-19 was obviously one culprit, but the political shake-up after the 2019 national elections in South Africa, certainly contributed to it. The Ministry of Sport and Recreation was abolished and merged with the Ministry of Arts and Culture, to form the new Ministry of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture. This led to some internal jostling for positions, as some senior public servants were more concerned about preservation of their high-paying jobs than the promotion of the public interest. The result was that the Bill was stalled and, three years later, the process to have it finalised and passed through Parliament, has now become a matter of urgency.
The failure to comply with the 2021 WADA Code almost had very embarrassing results for South Africa. The formal notice of non-compliance was issued by WADA on 28 September 2023 with a deadline of 13 October 2023 to ensure compliance. At the time, the South African national Springbok rugby team was in France, participating in the Rugby World Cup events, whilst the national cricket team was heading to India where they would participate in the Cricket World Cup event. There was a real risk that both the rugby union team and the cricket team would be compelled to play under a neutral flag in neutral colours if the deadline was not met. There was a further risk that South African sports teams and athletes could be banned altogether from international sport if South Africa did not comply with the WADA Code.
South Africa was spared some embarrassment when SAIDS lodged an appeal against the WADA finding of non-compliance with the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS). This had the immediate effect of suspending the WADA notice and its consequences, until such time as CAS had ruled on the matter. This was clearly just a delaying tactic on behalf of SAIDS and the South African government to buy some time during which they can try to get their house in order. The Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Zizi Kodwa, has pulled out all the stops to have a new draft Bill approved and get the Parliamentary Committee on Sport and Recreation assembled to initiate the process of having it formally adopted by Parliament at its first session of 2024. This is a crucial time, since there will be national elections later in the year, and this could again prove disruptive if the process is not finished before then.
Athletes and sports fans across South Africa will be waiting with bated breath to see if the politicians will rise to the occasion. South African sports teams and athletes have done so for almost 40 years since the end of the sports boycott due to South Africa's former Apartheid policies. It would be a sad day, indeed, if South African athletes are again deprived of their rightful and hard-earned place in the global sports arena due to the neglect of their politicians.
Prof Dr Steve Cornelius may be contacted by e-mail at ‘