CAPE TOWN. Apr 3: (Reuters/Internet): Five years after the end of apartheid, South African sports have finally woken up to the government's disquiet over "lily-white" teams,

The ruling African National Congress said last year it had run but of patience over the lack of black players in many of the country's lop sports teams and threatened to force cricket and rugby teams to introduce race.

But Minister of Sport Steve Tshwetc. who has said he finds it difficult to support all-white teams, has praised recent progress by sports governing bodies and appears to have backed away from considering intervention in team selection.

"The federations know very well that il is not and will never be the government's intention to usurp their autonomy and run sport." Tshwetc told parliament recently.

'They are clear that the government's responsibility is the creation of that environment in which sport and recreation will become the properly of an entire nation."

Decades of racial discrimination denied sports facilities and opportunities to the majority ot black South Africans, who dominate the soccer team but are still all but absent from most other national squads.

Before the historic all-race election in 1994, many blacks openly supported foreign teams rather than back their home side in white-dominated sports such as rugby and cricket.

But a year after President Nelson Mandela came to power, he donned a Springbok shirt to hand the rugby World Cup to the nation's all-white team in a gesture seen as one of the crowning moments of post-apartheid reconciliation.

But two years later relations soured when the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) dragged Mandela to court over a government probe into racism in the sport.

The ensuing outrage prompted SARFU to oust its president Louis Luyt and replace him with civil rights lawyer Silus Nkanunu.

The body has since had a change of heart towards promoting blacks in rugby, while Luyt has formed his own political party, the Federal Alliance, to contest South Africa's second democratic election due in

SARFU says it hopes to send a more representative team to Britain in October to defend the World Cup.

"The time of delivery has come now," said Rian Ober-holzer. SARFU chief executive, adding that rugby was conducting an audit of racial transformation across the board from coaches to referees.

The rugby fraternity has recognised the financial imperative behind broadening its support base.

"We've got to reposition rugby to build a passion for the game across a broad spectrum." said Russell Hanly. an advertising consultant to SARFU. "We want rugby to be the choice of the new generation."

Although politicians are pushing for quotas, black players are hot overly thrilled at the prospect of winning a team place by virtue of their colour rather than skill.

Cricket's mixed-race batsman Herschelle Gibbs and black bowler Makhaya Ntini have both pleaded for selection on merit.

"Players of colour who have made it so far have earned it." Ntini told Reuters. "But it seems that they could be going to select those who are not quite ready. That would be wrong."

But SARFU has come up with a novel way of describing its method of pushing more Diack players into the sport — "merit with bias".

Oberholzer has said merit would remain the basis of selection for the national Spring-. boks, squads for the Super 12 competition with Australian and New Zealand teams and the provincial Currie Cup.

But a quota system should help encourage more blacks take part in the domestic Voda-com Cup. the under-19 and under-21 teams and at the senior provincial level. If that does not produce results within a year. SARFU plans to introduce quotas for provincial teams. Oberholzer said.

The United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) has already said provincial sides must include at least one black player from next season and will introduce a pool system to help province^ with insufficient black players.

"At no stage will there ever be an all-white team on the pitch at the provincial level." said UCBSA managing director Ali Bacher.

Bacher has also said black

players must be. selected for all future national squads for in- . ternational games -- a decision taken after controversy erupted when the country fielded an all-white team against the visiting West Indies.

Lulu Xingwana. ANC chairwoman of parliament's sport committee, said she hoped South Africa's final squads for the cricket World Cup in England in May and June and the rugby World Cup would both contain more black players.

"We are eagerly awaiting to see fully representative teams." she said. "I am confident that South Africa will stand united behind our teams.

"To our white sports players who are worried about their future in this country. I would like to reassure them that South Africa belongs to all --both black and white."

Both rugby and cricket have also made a commitment to write black players into their official histories to create black role models even if apartheid barred them from representing their country.

But despite the best intentions of sports governing bodies. many While players are resistant lo change and racism still blights the sports field.

Former Test all-rounder Brian McMillan was forced to make a public apology recently for a racially offensive comment made during a local match.

In a separate incident. Eastern Province second XI player Alan Badenhorst was banned for two years after being found guilty of calling a black opponent a "half-bred kaffir" - one of the most offensive ways of addressing a black South African.

Last year, a Springbok rugby player also allegedly used the same insult in addressing a black South African woman in a New Zealand bar.

But cricket and rugby are not the only problem areas. Parliament's sport and recreation committee has also singled out sports such as netball, fencing, motor racing and rowing for not doing enough to help blacks enter the sports.

Several of South Africa's leading black professional golfers are due to hold talks to address the issue of racism in the game and have threatened to break away to form a uniquely black league if their concerns are not addressed.