Sport and Recreation Committee Programme

Meeting report

Committee Programme 2012
The Chairperson handed over to the Committee Secretary, Mr Lichakane Phori, to take the Committee through the draft programme.

Mr Phori said that since the next meeting would be preceded by the State of the Nation address it would be appropriate to have the Department present its job creation strategy and response to the President’s State of the Nation address. The Department had been informed and were preparing for the briefing.

The 22 February meeting would be a briefing by SASCOC on their 2012 London Olympic Games preparations, criteria on accreditation of sports federations, the database of all recognised federations and funding issues.

A newly formed board in the National Sport Council had approached the secretary indicating they wanted to appear before the Committee. On 28 February they would brief the Committee on their objectives.

Cricket South Africa was supposed to present its development plans and progress on the implementation of Indaba resolutions. He was not sure whether it would be appropriate to do so since the Nicholson Commission investigation was still ongoing.

The Committee Secretary proposed the Committee should decide on the entities to be chosen for presentation of budget votes and strategic plans as per government requirement. Thereafter the Committee would meet to consider and adopt its budget vote report prior to the Minister of Sport’s Budget Speech.

There was a proposed oversight visit to sports facilities built by the Department, for example artificial turf stadiums and Football Hope Centres. The Department was working on the matter and five different provinces were suggested: two in rural areas and three urban facilities to assess the impact of discrepancies.

The 10 April meeting was a proposed briefing by Wrestling South Africa. The Secretary said he was receiving requests from various federations who expressed interest in meeting with the Committee. This entity had indicated that it was facing various challenges and needed to meet with the Committee. The day would be used to evaluate the implementation of the Indaba resolutions by Wrestling SA.

Following the implementation of a new strategy for sports in the country, it would be appropriate if the Committee looked at development plans and resolutions. South African Rugby would be invited on 16 April.

Members should communicate any further proposals for the programme by 14 February. The Committee would consider and adopt oversight visit reports on 15 May.

On 22 May Tennis South Africa would brief the Committee on its activities and challenges as the sport had recently nosedived. Basketball will be looked into as well.

The Department would brief the Committee on its quarterly performance report and accreditation of foreigners especially coaches of influential clubs such as Kaizer Chiefs and coaches of the national team as this had been a subject of debate in the media and the sporting fraternity. The Department needed to clarify if there are any rules governing the employment and accreditation of foreigners.

Boxing South Africa would get a chance to present their quarterly performance report and the Committee would use the time to assess the implementation of recommendations made during their 2010/11 Annual Report presentation. BSA would give feedback on progress made in dealing with issues raised by the Committee.

Karate South Africa, Kick Boxing, and Cage Fighting associations would be summoned to present their activities and challenges to the Committee.

In July an application would be made for study tour visits to Argentina and the United Kingdom. Members could propose other countries.

On 24 July, if the study tour were undertaken, the Committee would evaluate the success of the visit and lessons learnt.

The London Olympic Games would be held in July and SASCOC should present the outcomes of the event.

On 21 August Athletics South Africa would brief the Committee on their development plan and implementation of the sports Indaba resolutions. This would be followed by a briefing by the Department on its quarterly report

Swimming South Africa would appear before the Committee on 25 August since it had not done so often. Hockey South Africa must also present its activities to the committee.

On 2 October the Department would present its Annual Report and a progress report on the implementation of the Indaba resolutions. Boxing South Africa would present its Annual Report and the outcomes of investigation into maladministration and misappropriation of funds. The institute of Drug Free Sport would also appear before the committee to present its Annual Report.

In October, the Committee would consider its Budget Review & Recommendations Report and adopt it. It was proposed that the South African Football Association (SAFA) brief the Committee on their preparations for the 2013 AFCON tournament.

In November, the Committee would consider any study tour reports and probably outline its business plans for the next year. Outstanding minutes would be consolidated. The premier Soccer League would be summoned to appear before the committee to present its development plan and progress made in implementing the Sports Indaba resolutions.

The Committee Secretary told members that the draft programme had been given to the researcher and they were working together on finalising it.

Discussion
Mr Mphumzi Mdekazi, parliament researcher, asked if it was possible for the Committee to host Tennis, Hockey and Golf on the same day. SAFA had presented a development plan to the Committee and it was important that they update the Committee on progress made. The agenda for 6 March was too open, instead of addressing the Indaba resolutions alone, Cricket South Africa and Rugby SA should present on transformation and development as well. The Committee was aware that BSA was beset by resource constraints and needed to know how could it best be assisted to solve its financial and legislative problems. The Act stipulated that BSA must provide a framework for professional boxing but there were no funds to do the consultation, marketing, infrastructure and appointment of key personnel since the budget was too constrained.

Mr T Lee (DA) urged members to be more assertive in push for permission to undertake study tour visits as other committees did. Study tours could help the Committee learn how other countries ran their sports programmes. On the proposal that Rugby SA should inform the Committee on its development of sport, he suggested that school sports should rather do the presentation because they were not in the programme.

Mr Dikgacwi agreed with Mr Lee about the importance of overseas study tours. When he was the acting Chairperson of the Committee, Parliament had promised that as soon as the Committee had a permanent Secretary, overseas study tours would be permitted.

He continued that the Department of Sport and Recreation should tell members if the vacant post had been filled when they appear before the Committee on 14 February. He expressed concern at the level of racism in the Western Cape adding that he had been invited to a club in Paarl where after the match a fight broke out. Footage of the fight showed only that people of colour were arrested. The Committee should look into some of the challenges facing Banyana-Banyana. On Rugby, he noted that some clubs were run by provincial federations. They were not always accountable to the mother body hence there was a need for provinces to account to the Committee about their activities.

On the proposal that SASCOC should brief the Committee on Olympics preparation, Mr Lee proposed that since the games would be held in July, all Olympic sport codes should appear before the Committee. He added that people who excelled at the Olympics must be appreciated.

The Chairperson agreed with the member adding the matter was critical and needed to be attended to. He suggested that Parliament needed to look at indigenous games that are played in South Africa so that they can be promoted. Although these were not Olympic codes, the Department should assist in identifying the codes such as the boxing practised in Limpopo, KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape so that people in rural areas did not feel alienated. The state of affairs in Rugby was very bad and it needed to be addressed. Despite the fact that such sports were run by federations, government, as an enabler, should look at existing Acts of Parliament and identify and mend gaps where possible. During oversight visits, members would meet with SAFA as well as meet regional formations together with local area political leadership to engage them on profound issues of development and access to sport. The Mzonke Fana issue would be addressed. He was not sure whether a committee of parliament could lobby for money as the budgeting process of South Africa was different from other nations and such a move could cause unnecessary chaos with other departments. Sport was an important tool for uniting people, creating jobs and ensuring stability in the country; hence all efforts should be made to promote all sporting codes so that no group felt isolated.

Ms G Tseke (ANC) said that Netball was facing serious challenges and was among the codes in need of intervention. The Committee had passed a law on safety at sports and recreational events; all federation should abide by the rules. The Committee Secretary should re-look at the number of oversight visit days and ensure that the committee programme addressed issues of transformation and development.

The Chairperson said it was essential that the calendar addressed issues of development and transformation. The issue of study tours should be pursued and the leadership must be persuaded so that the objectives of the Committee could be realised. Members should communicate their programme proposals to the Secretary for consideration. He noted that joint committee meetings needed to be conducted with the Department of Human Settlements and Department of Basic Education.

Committee Minutes
Ms Tseke sought clarity on whether it was proper to name members’ names in minutes or was there a new way of writing minutes. This was after she observed that the minute recorded names of members who spoke during the BSA Annual Report presentation. She moved for the adoption of the minutes.

The Chairperson said it was advisable that minutes should capture major decisions and not general comments as they were used as benchmarks for making important parliamentary resolutions. The issue would be looked at by the Committee Secretary and leadership of the Committee to make sure that only the essence of the meetings was recorded as minutes.

Mr M Dikgacwi (ANC), who was absent during the BSA appearance before the Committee, wanted to know if the entity had updated members on the Mzonke Fana issue as had been recommended.

The Chairperson replied that he did not remember BSA addressing the issue. The purpose of the meeting was for BSA to present on their Annual Report, governance issues, and development and transformation in the entity. A letter would be written to BSA urging them to attend to the matter and the Committee would make a follow-up to ensure that the issue has been addressed. He proposed that Members adopt the report.

The report was adopted as amended.

The meeting was adjourned.