Minister of Sports Gayton McKenzie has denied that white people are to blame for the lack of transformation in South African sports and slammed black administrators for their failure to effect change.

Although the country has implemented policies aimed at fast-tracking transformation, sports such as cricket, swimming, and rugby have consistently struggled to produce many black athletes who can compete at the highest level.

Last year, a significant outcry erupted in South Africa when the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup, held in the Caribbean and the United States, featured only one black African player, Kagiso Rabada.

Swimming South Africa's challenges in achieving transformation were evident at the Paris Olympic Games last year, where the team consisted entirely of white athletes, despite the majority of the population being black.

In an interview with Robert Marawa on 947 on Thursday, McKenzie addressed the slow pace of transformation in some of the country's sports and pointed out that black presidents lead most sporting federations in South Africa.

He accused them of "selling out" and being afraid to make tough decisions.

"It's so easy for us when we don't see black people on the cricket field, when we don't see black swimmers. It's so easy for us to say these white people don't want to change.

"And it's a natural thing for some. Let me tell you the truth; Sports in this country is not run by white people, all the presidents of all the federations, I'm yet to meet a white one.

"It's our own people, we are being sold out by our own people, and people are scared to say it. They are there, black like us, and they are scared to make decisions," McKenzie said.

The minister also highlighted the importance of having progressive leaders in charge.

"... The president of cricket is not white, I did not see one white person on the board when they came to see me. These are black people that you ask what you are there for.

"We need progressive people to run these things that will come and say this is how things are going to be, not people that forget they have a national mandate," McKenzie added.

McKenzie threatened to take Swimming SA to task over their failure to transform the sport.

South Africa has never had a black swimmer represent the country at the Olympic Games.

"You see those Swim SA people, I'm coming for them, there's not one black swimmer. You want to tell me for 30 years we can't even produce one person that qualifies? You can't tell me that".

IOL Sport