Kolisi: Madiba wouldn't have supported quota system

Cape Town - Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says he does not want to be picked because of the colour of his skin and that former President Nelson Mandela would not support a quota system in South African sport. 

Kolisi was speaking to Kyodo News during a recent trip to Japan where he was speaking as an ambassador for Panasonic. 

Kolisi, the first black man to ever captain the Springboks, was asked about how Mandela would have responded to the idea of transformation targets in national sports teams.

"I don’t think he would have supported that, but I don't know him," Kolisi said.

"You shouldn’t put a number on stuff like that.

"If you want to talk about transformation, you have got to start there (at a grassroots level).

"Imagine I hadn't gone to an English school. I wouldn't have eaten properly, I wouldn't have grown properly and I wouldn't have had the preparation that the other boys did.

"It's tough. Maybe in the Currie Cup you can try guys out and push people in and see how they do, but you can't just (pick somebody in the Bok side because of his colour).

"In South Africa it's tough because we want results and transformation.

"The talent is there, it's just about nurturing it.

"I wouldn’t want to be picked because of my skin colour because that surely wouldn't be good for the team and the guys around you would know."