Deputy Sports Minister, Nocawe Mafu, has welcomed Caster Semenya’s latest court victory.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday that courts in Switzerland should give Semenya a new chance to fight the requirement to compete without taking drugs to lower her testosterone levels.
The double Olympic 800-metre gold medallist approached the European Court of Human Rights in 2021 after losing appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
The EHCR ruling found that the world athletics’ regulations were a source of discrimination for Semenya by the manner in which they were exercised and by their effects.
It also says the regulations were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Mafu explains, “It is such a good victory. This has been six years in the running. Caster’s problems started in 2018. So, to be here now and have this victory is something that is very heart-warming. Sport in general has to change and needs to treat women equally. Caster had to go through this and it is very painful.”
