John Minto: Words nothing without actions

John Minto

In sport, 1976 was a grim year for New Zealand. The All Blacks toured South Africa giving succour to the white regime while an uprising of black schoolchildren was being brutally suppressed.

The world was appalled at New Zealand's insensitivity and Prime Minister Muldoon's intransigence.

The result was an attempt to expel New Zealand from the Montreal Olympic Games later that year and when this failed, 28 African countries walked out of the games in protest against our sporting links with South Africa.

A year later - as a direct result of the All Black tour - the Commonwealth Heads of Government drew up the Gleneagles Agreement which required every Commonwealth country to take "all practical steps" to discourage sporting links with South Africa.

Fast forward to 2005 and a New Zealand cricket team prepares to tour Zimbabwe while the Mugabe regime bulldozes tens of thousands of its poorest citizens from their homes.

The abuse of human rights by Mugabe is well documented. Many hundreds of black Zimbabweans have lost their lives due to his determination to hold on to political power.

The situations of South Africa in 1976 and Zimbabwe in 2005 are not the same but the similarities are strong. Just as the 1976 tour to South Africa deserved condemnation, so does the proposed cricket tour to Zimbabwe.

The Prime Minister says she "wouldn't be seen dead in Zimbabwe" but Foreign Minister Phil Goff says the Government can't stop our cricketers leaving the country if they want. This is true in the literal sense but is no excuse for a lack of leadership.

Goff has tried to deflect attention by saying he will look to stop Zimbabwean players touring here later this year and will work with other Commonwealth countries towards a wider sports ban on the country. These are both admirable steps but do not address the situation of our cricketers touring in August.

Helen Clark could learn something from Muldoon here. In 1980 his government wanted to support a boycott of the Moscow Olympics in protest against the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The decision was left to the New Zealand Olympic committee but the pressure was such that the boycott was close to 100 per cent.

The Government has many options to ensure the same outcome in 2005 with our cricket team. All they need is a bit of courage but that may be in short supply.

Our current Government has previously talked big but not followed through on the issue of sporting contacts. A few years ago Goff threatened to withhold visas from the Fiji rugby team entering New Zealand for a sevens tournament in the aftermath of the George Speight-led coup. But he buckled - worried about a public backlash - and the Fijians played. He is again talking tough but will need to be put under a lot of pressure to follow through.

A public backlash itself seems less likely today compared to 1976. There seems to be general acceptance that politics and sport are inevitable bedfellows.

National sports teams are such a reflection of national pride that they often carry the hopes and aspirations of an entire country with them.

A sports boycott will have a more profound impact on the policies of oppressive governments. They are the most highly visible, involving high levels of non-violent, yet intense, political pressure.

Zimbabwe's problems stem from decisions made 25 years ago before the first democratic elections took place. Huge pressure was exerted on Mugabe and other black leaders by the British and United States governments for economic policies to continue unchanged and for no change to land ownership, leaving millions of blacks in poverty.

Mugabe agreed, and little changed for Zimbabweans, apart from the colour of their political leaders. Restlessness among the black population has inevitably risen. Mugabe has deflected this by blaming whites and encouraging land occupations where some white families were forced off their land, enacting a hamfisted policy of land redistribution. But instead of this land going to landless black families, the spoils have gone mostly to Mugabe loyalists.

The regime's abuse of power deserves much more than international condemnation - it requires action. The fine words of our political leaders mean nothing to the people whose homes have been bulldozed or to the families of black Zimbabweans who have lost their lives in the struggle against oppression.

New Zealand has the chance to show the maturity which comes from learning a critical lesson from our past. The cricket tour must not proceed.

* John Minto was a leader of the anti-tour group Hart during the 1981 Springbok tour.