We as the women's basketball community in South Africa deserve a fair and equal opportunity to compete on a professional level. We have been treated as second class citizens within the basketball fraternity and reject the proposal of the Women's Basketball National League (WBNL) by the Basketball National League (BNL). It is not good enough to hide behind financial constraints as a reason to exclude women or provide a subpar platform. A one province, three team WBNL cannot be supported as it creates further stagnation within the women's game.

According to the current Basketball South Africa (BSA) constitution, the BNL does not have the rights to run a professional women's league in the country. In the last seven years, the BNL has seen an increasing decline in the level of competition and attendance. This brings to question why they have been entrusted with running the Women's game from the onset. In addition to this, the board of the BNL has no female representation nor has it made any efforts to include women on its board since inception.

Minister Fikile Mbalula helped to provide support to launch a Men's Professional league in 2013, we now call on Minister Nathi Mthethwa and his department to provide the proper assitance to launch a Women's League in South Africa. One which is focused on the development of the women's game and is driven by women.