Apartheid

====Vorster years====
On 6 September 1966, Verwoerd was fatally stabbed at Parliament House by parliamentary messenger [[Dimitri Tsafendas]]. [[John Vorster]] took office shortly after, and announced that South Africa would no longer dictate to the international community what their teams should look like. Although this reopened the gate for international sporting meets, it did not signal the end of South Africa's racist sporting policies. In 1968, Vorster went against his policy by refusing to permit [[Basil D'Oliveira]], a Coloured South African-born cricketer, to join the English cricket team on its tour to South Africa. Vorster said that the side had been chosen only to prove a point, and not on merit. D'Oliveira was eventually included in the team as the first substitute, but the tour was cancelled. Protests against certain tours brought about the cancellation of a number of other visits, including that of an England rugby team touring South Africa in 1969–70.

The first of the "White Bans" occurred in 1971 when the Chairman of the Australian Cricketing Association{{snds}}[[Don Bradman|Sir Don Bradman]]{{snds}}flew to South Africa to meet Vorster. Vorster had expected Bradman to allow the tour of the Australian cricket team to go ahead, but things became heated after Bradman asked why Black sportsmen were not allowed to play cricket. Vorster stated that Blacks were intellectually inferior and had no finesse for the game. Bradman, thinking this ignorant and repugnant, asked Vorster if he had heard of a man named [[Garry Sobers]]. On his return to [[Australia]], Bradman released a short statement: "We will not play them until they choose a team on a non-racist basis."<ref>[https://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/the-day-apartheid-was-hit-for-six/2008/08/22/1219262525329.html The Day Apartheid Was Hit For Six] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025110914/http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/the-day-apartheid-was-hit-for-six/2008/08/22/1219262525329.html |date=25 October 2015 }}. ''The Sydney Morning Herald''.</ref> Bradman's views were in stark contrast to those of Australian tennis great [[Margaret Court]], who had won the [[grand slam (tennis)|grand slam]] the previous year and commented about apartheid that "South Africans have this thing better organised than any other country, particularly America" and that she would "go back there any time."<ref>{{cite news|title = Margaret Court: astounding champion who found God and lost the respect of a nation|url = https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/03/margaret-court-astounding-champion-who-found-god-and-lost-the-respect-of-a-nation|work = [[Guardian Australia]]|first = Russell|last = Jackson|access-date = 7 November 2019|date = 3 June 2017|archive-date = 7 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191107090021/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/03/margaret-court-astounding-champion-who-found-god-and-lost-the-respect-of-a-nation|url-status = live}}</ref>

In South Africa, Vorster vented his anger publicly against Bradman, while the African National Congress rejoiced. This was the first time a predominantly White nation had taken the side of multiracial sport, producing an unsettling resonance that more "White" boycotts were coming.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreamcricket.com/community/blogs/cover_points/archive/2008/08/23/bradman-s-perfection.aspx |title=Bradman's Perfection |publisher=DreamCricket |access-date=19 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710151045/http://www.dreamcricket.com/community/blogs/cover_points/archive/2008/08/23/bradman-s-perfection.aspx |archive-date=10 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Almost twenty years later, on his release from prison, Nelson Mandela asked a visiting Australian statesman if Donald Bradman, his childhood hero, was still alive (Bradman lived until 2001).

In 1971, Vorster altered his policies even further by distinguishing multiracial from multinational sport. Multiracial sport, between teams with players of different races, remained outlawed; multinational sport, however, was now acceptable: international sides would not be subject to South Africa's racial stipulations.

In 1978, Nigeria [[boycott]]ed the [[1978 Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games]] because New Zealand's sporting contacts with the South African government were not considered to be in accordance with the 1977 [[Gleneagles Agreement]]. Nigeria also led the 32-nation boycott of the [[1986 Commonwealth Games]] because of UK Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher|Margaret Thatcher's]] ambivalent attitude towards sporting links with South Africa, significantly affecting the quality and profitability of the Games and thus thrusting apartheid into the international spotlight.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://experts.about.com/e/c/co/Commonwealth_Games.htm|title=Commonwealth Games|publisher=About.com|access-date=7 February 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060527215130/http://experts.about.com/e/c/co/Commonwealth_Games.htm| archive-date=27 May 2006| url-status=live}}</ref>