The Right to Privacy and Drug-Testing in Sport in South Africa: Could the New Zealand case of Cropp v Judicial Committee Provide Some Guidance?

This article examines the right to privacy of athletes who are required to submit to drug tests. In South Africa, the right to privacy of an athlete with regard to drug testing has not been challenged in the courts. However, the courts in New Zealand have had an opportunity to examine the right to privacy of an athlete in terms of drug testing in sport. Therefore, the article discusses whether the decision in the New Zealand case of Cropp v Judicial Committee may provide some guidance to South African courts in the adjudication of whether the infringement and the limitation on the right to privacy in the context of drug-testing in sport can be reasonable and justified and concludes that such infringement may be reasonable and justified if a court is to consider a limitation of the right to privacy in terms of section 36 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 as well as consent and safety.