Sports and Recreation Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report

Sport, Arts and Culture

14 February 2017
Chairperson: Mr S Ralegoma (ANC) (Acting)
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Meeting Summary

2016 Budget Review & Recommendations Reports – BRRR

The Committee was supposed to be briefed by Chess SA but this had to be postponed as the Chairperson of the body was not available to attend the meeting due to pressing deadlines. Members were unhappy that Chess SA had communicated their unavailability at the eleventh hour.

The Committee then considered and approved its Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report and a couple of outstanding minutes.

With respect to the report, Members made the following input:

- The housing of fewer athletes in the Wining Nation Program is concerning. Provinces that house the least athletes be “named and shamed” because they cause their athletes to miss out on opportunities.

- Ministers should ensure that Provinces hold Municipalities accountable to spending funds on sports facilities and not on other things. 

-There was a need for accountability in the transferral of funds for sport and recreational development by Municipalities

Meeting report

Election of Acting Chairperson
The Committee Secretary welcomed everyone in attendance. She introduced the need for electing an Acting Chairperson for the meeting because of the absence of Ms B Dlulane (ANC). She explained that her absence was as a result of the bereavement of a family member.

Ms D Manana (ANC) nominated Mr S Ralegoma (ANC) to be the Acting Chairperson.

Mr Ralegoma agreed to chair the meeting.

The nomination was seconded and unanimously agreed to.

Chess SA Non-Attendance
The secretary informed the Committee that the Chairperson of Chess SA, Mr E Smart had urgently contacted her in the morning apologising for his sudden inability to attend the Committee meeting as result of pressing business responsibilities and deadlines at noon.

Mr D Bergman (DA) stated that it was unacceptable for the Chairperson of Chess SA to inform the Committee that he will not be able to attend the meeting so late. He further said that this has dire implications because of the traveling costs incurred.

Ms Manana agreed with Mr Bergman and said that one can not travel from afar simply to discuss minutes of previous meetings.

Amendment and Restructuring of Agenda
The Acting Chairperson proposed that the agenda be amended and restructured in order to progress with matters at hand such as the consideration and adoption of the Sport and Recreation Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report of 19 October 2016 and minutes of previous quarterly meetings. He then tabled this suggestion and members of the committee such as Ms Manana, Mr Mmusi (ANC) and Mr P Moteka (EFF) agreed. However, these members expressed dissatisfaction with the unforeseen changes in the agenda. Thereafter, he gave the members five minutes to review the Report of 19 October 2016.

Sport and Recreation Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report of 19 October 2016
The Committee then considered the report in order to adopt it. They went through it page-by-page and Members were allowed to make input where appropriate.

Mr Bergman said that reading the first few pages of the report is comparable to “reading a horror show”. He continued that the housing of fewer athletes in the Wining Nation Program is concerning as he thought that if there was progress there ought to have been more athletes and not less athletes being housed. He furthermore stated that the lack of submission paperwork for payment of grants by municipalities is an impediment to housing of athletes. He then proposed that provinces that house the least athletes be “named and shamed” because they cause their athletes to miss out on opportunities.

Ms Manana noted that it is unfair for Sports Trust to be listed as a federation as it is also assisting in sports equipment in rural areas. She suggested that funds need to be transferred to Sports Trust as would be done for an NGO such as Love Life.

The Acting Chairperson replied that the recommendations in the report stated exactly that.

Ms C Madlopha (ANC) sought clarity concerning recommendation 1 which outlines the issue of the vacant positions. She questioned why the filled positions in program 5 are not listed as filled positions. Furthermore, she explained that this poses challenges in overseeing whether certain vacancies have been occupied or not.
 
The Acting Chairperson replied that the Department seeks to oversee the occupation of vacancies in view of the development of municipal sport infrastructure.

Ms Madlopha commented on less expenditure in the transferral of funds. She mentioned how this is often as a result of institutions poor submission of necessary document. She explained that Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) should follow up on why this occurs as it results in poor service delivery. Furthermore, she said that as Members of Parliament they can no longer be “blamed because of officials who are not doing their work”. 
 
The Acting Chairperson responded that this indeed is true and has resulted in many frustrations.

Mr P Moteka (EFF) asked what the consequences are for such non-compliance in the transferral of funds. Furthermore, he said that the Committee should not be in trouble because of the inconsistencies in the transferral of funds as they are responsible for overseeing this process.

The Acting Chairperson added a recommendation in the 19 of October 2016 report. He said that Ministers should ensure that Provinces hold Municipalities accountable to spending funds on sports facilities and not on other things. 

The Acting Chairperson tabled the report for adoption.

This motion was agreed upon by all members present.

The report was adopted with amendments.

Consideration of Minutes
The Committee then considered minutes of previous meetings.

Minutes of Parliament Committee on Sport and Recreation for 23 of November 2016
Ms B Abrahams (ANC) asks that a check is done on attendance as she does not recall being absent from the meeting.

Mr M Mabika (NFP) suggests that the minutes have a tracking metrics for matters arising so that the members can follow up of matters of any sort.

The Secretary reassured the members that there is a spread sheet of the resolutions that can be made available to the members for the purposes of following up.

Mr Bergman notes how there are inconsistencies in the workflow of the Committee as it seems to operate in both a casual and professional manner.

The Acting Chairperson called for the adoption of the minutes.

Ms Manana adopted the minutes.

Mr Moteka seconded the minutes.

The minutes were adopted with amendments.

Minutes of Parliament Committee on Sport and Recreation for 29 of November 2016
Mr Moteka observes that the information concerning the members attendance at the meeting on the 23 November is not clear as it does not mention whether the persons were absent with apology. He states that this should be corrected in future.

Ms Manana proposed the adoption of the minutes with amendments.

Mr Bergman seconded the motion but nonetheless expressed his discomfort with the manner in which members call for their attendance to be re-checked which then poses a question on the accuracy of the minutes.

The minutes were adopted with amendments.

The meeting was adjourned.


 

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