Sport-for-development Approaches in the South African Context: a Case Study Analysis

The politics of development ideology and global leadership set the scene for sport (for) development in South Africa. Diverse research agendas and donor requirements informed research whereby indigenous knowledge systems could be accessed in a collaborative venture of knowledge production. A discussion of three distinct and interrelated models, based on the rationale of Mintzberg (2006), affords insights within a social capital framework of a top-down, bottom-up and outside-in approach in the field of sport-for-development. Each approach as evidenced in three diverse case studies set the scene for social impact and networking around strategic alliance formation and development agenda of major stakeholders. The different approaches, either in isolation and/or in an interrelated fashion shed light on the evolving dynamics in the field of sport and development.