Quotas in South African rugby should be a thing of the past by 2003, and could already be phased out at junior level, the South African Rugby Football Union's chief executive, Rian Oberholzer, said on Wednesday.
In a wide-ranging briefing to parliament's portfolio committee on sport and recreation, Oberholzer and other Sarfu executives also blamed sky-high ticket prices for international matches on greedy provincial unions.
The rugby bosses were asked to brief the committee on their transformation programme and complaints that high ticket prices were putting rugby beyond the reach of many fans, especially blacks.
Oberholzer said quotas were already unnecessary at junior level because the transformation plan had produced the required results.
"If in the year 2003 we still bicker about quotas, we will have lost the fight."
The Sarfu executives faced a barrage of questions from ANC committee members on high ticket prices, described by some members as racist because it prevented poor blacks from watching international matches.
A ticket to a Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban earlier this year cost R300.
The issue came to a head when Nick Mallett resigned as Springbok coach after being hauled before a disciplinary hearing for accusing Sarfu of "greed" over ticket prices.
But Oberholzer told the committee Sarfu had little control over ticket prices. Although Sarfu demanded guarantees, the unions themselves kept the lion's share of the profits.
"In the case of the Durban test, (the Natal Rugby Union) charged R300 a ticket and there were about 50 000 spectators. That is an income of R15-million, and we only asked for R4,5-million."
Songezo Nayo, Sarfu's manager of transformation, said: "We don't own any stadiums. The ticket prices are the exclusive domain of the union."
