By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has offered condolences to the family of anti-apartheid activist and former President of the South African Council on Sport (SACOS) Frank van der Horst.
The former leader of the anti-apartheid sports organisation who fought for non-racial sport among the oppressed and marginalised in apartheid South Africa died at the age of 86 on Monday.
Van der Horst served as SACOS president from 1982 to 1988, but remained a committed member of the movement through the years.
In a statement on Wednesday, the President said South African sports is now richer because of the legacy left behind by van der Horst and SACOS.
The passing of Frank van der Horst makes us recall an era of grassroots, non-racial and inter-sectoral resistance to apartheid, and international support for our struggle. As part of the generational leadership of Norman Naidoo, Hassan Howa, Morgan Naidoo and Joe Ebrahim, Frank van der Horst made a crucial contribution as SACOS President to the sustained political pressure faced by the apartheid system in its closing decade, “Ramaphosa said.
“Today, South African sport continues to benefit from Frank van der Horst’s and SACOS’s legacy in the form of administrators who played their sport under the SACOS banner and now lead sports development in our country as well as federations and teams who are welcome throughout the world.
“As a nation, we are grateful for a struggle Frank waged with courage, principle and clarity. His values and the example he set will sustain us while he rests in peace,” Ramaphosa said.
Between 1982 and 1988, Van der Horst presided over Sacos amid one of the darkest political eras in the nation’s history.
Van der Horst also helped organise the Olympics of the Oppressed, also known as the Sacos Games or Sacos Festival in 1982 and 1988, respectively.
Speaking on behalf of the Board of the District Six Museum, Judge Siraj Desai described Van der Horst as a stalwart, friend and comrade.
“He played a significant role in different spheres of struggle in the apartheid era, and afterwards, always alert to the machinations of the ruling class and Imperialism,” said Judge Desai.
“We specifically recall his steadfast role in the continuing struggle for land restitution, of which District Six was of great significance.”
In 2022, Sacos in the Western Cape launched the Frank van der Horst Exhibition at the National Library of South Africa in the Company’s Garden.
President of Safa CT, Bennett Bailey, said Van der Horst was steadfast in promoting non-racialism in sport and society.
“His sharp mind mentored many individuals, ensuring there’s a next generation of leaders. I will always remember him as one of the best orators who could speak for hours, without a piece of paper in front of him,” he said.
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has joined those in paying tribute to the family and friends of Van der Horst.
In reflecting on Van der Horst’s passing, the president of SASCOC, Barry Hendricks, said: As a young sports administrator I was privileged to meet Van der Horst and to hear him deliver his legendary speeches. He, like other great sports administrators, left an indelible mark on others in South African sport. Our condolences and thoughts go out to his family and friends.”