By Patrick Compton, Michael Owen-Smith and Phomello Molwedi
Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour is not going to get involved in the controversy raging around the selection of Justin Ontong in the beleaguered South African cricket team in Australia.
However, he has questioned the furore following the selection of Ontong.
"If this was any other player but a black player, would we have had this media frenzy?" Balfour's spokesperson Graham Abrahams asked on behalf of the minister.
"I don't think the minister is going to do anything (about the selection controversy). I think people, particularly journalists, should familiarise themselves with the United Cricket Board's policies regarding selections.
"We have done our own inquiries and we are satisfied with the explanation that the UCB offered. We spoke to the CEO (of the UCB, Gerald Majola) and he explained the position of the president (Percy Sonn), and we are quite happy with that," said Abrahams.
He added that the controversy was an issue for cricket to deal with, and he lambasted the media for its "negative" reporting about the saga.
On Wednesday, a number of cricketers who represented South Africa during the apartheid years slammed Sonn's decision to force the tour selectors to change their side to accommodate Ontong - at the cost of Jacques Rudolph - as a second player of colour on the eve of the third Test against Australia in Sydney.
Herschelle Gibbs is the only other player of colour in the Test team.
The root problem, argued big-hitting batsman Adrian Kuiper and fast bowler Fanie de Villiers, was that South Africa's domestic cricket scene was in a shambles, and it was unfair to expect the national team simultaneously to meet transformation requirements and win top-flight matches.
On Wednesday, Sonn admitted that he had intervened in the selection of the Test team.
He said UCB policies governing the selection of national teams included the quota rule, in which at least one player of colour must be picked.
A second regulation, he added, concerned a stipulation of the Transformation Charter, in which players of colour must be seen to be given opportunities to represent their country.
Sonn conceded that the original team which the selectors had given to him had fulfilled the quota regulation. However, he believed that the selectors had not observed the second policy.
In reaction, national selector Graeme Pollock on Wednesday rededicated himself to the future of South African cricket. However, he said he had disagreed with Sonn's decision.
"I think Justin has good cricketing ability and that he has a future, but that doesn't mean that picking him for the Test team right now is the correct decision.
"I don't believe we always think carefully enough about the player himself. How does Justin feel about playing when he knows many of his friends think he's just playing for political reasons?
"Perhaps he's embarrassed about it all, knowing as he does that the rest of the team are aware of what's happening. In some ways, picking a player for political reasons can be seen as a slight on the guy himself."
The problem, Pollock added, was the fine line between a successful national team and being sensitive to the imperatives of transformation.
"We can't have our cake and eat it," said former spin bowler Pat Symcox. "We have to decide whether we want to be in line with the UCB's goals of being the best team in the world, winning World Cups, and pleasing spectators, supporters, sponsors and all the role-players. On the other hand we are trying to appease political aspirations, which is not very fair on the players."
Both De Villiers and Kuiper said the root of the problem lay with disorganisation at domestic level.
"The biggest problem is coaching at all the various levels," said De Villiers. "If we had coaches at provincial level with experience of playing at international level, then we would be able to bring players of colour through from provincial to international level. There would be no need for a quota system if the correct structures were in place in our domestic cricket."
Kuiper said: "If we are going to compete at international level, then firstly our domestic scene needs to be reorganised. Then it must be carried through to the national side."