SAIDS & Athletics SA 2022/23 Annual Report; WADA Non-Compliance

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Mr T Mhlongo (DA) said he was concerned by the absence of the Minister, Deputy Minister, and DG. What was the reason for their absence?

The Minister’s written apology was read. The Deputy Minister had tendered an apology as she was in France and the DG had given an apology as she was in East London.

The Chairperson said it was the first time no senior member was present at a meeting.

Mr Mhlongo said the absence was uncalled for as it was an issue of national importance and the DA wanted to reserve their rights.

Ms Sumayya Khan, DDG: Sport, DSAC, said the Minister’s absence was because of a long-standing community engagement.

DSAC briefing on SAIDS        
Ms Mandisa Tshikwatamba, DDG: Corporate Services, DSAC, said that SAIDS had achieved 57% of its targets and was given an unqualified or clean audit. She said the council meeting attendance was 55% for 2022/23 and the Department was not happy with this.

She discussed SAIDS’ non-compliance with Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) requirements. SAIDS, the consequences thereof, and the challenges and interventions related to it. 

South Africa is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code. The updated Code became effective in January 2021. All organisations that have endorsed the Code, representing their countries, are obliged to ensure that their countries incorporate the provisions of the Code into their policies, statutes, rules, and regulations.

WADA recently found South African legislation to be non-compliant with the Code. It set a deadline of 13 October 2023 by which South Africa had to align its legislation with the Code, failing which sanctions will be immediately effective. These sanctions include a prohibition on South Africa being awarded the right to host regional, continental, and World Championships, and Events organized by Major Event Organizations, until SAIDS is re-instated. In addition, South Africa’s flag will not be flown at regional, continental, and World Championships, and Events, organized by Major Event Organizations, until SAIDS is reinstated.

The Department reported that it was working hard to resolve the matter and get the SAIDS Amendment Bill adopted expeditiously. The Bill was approved by Cabinet and will be tabled to Parliament.  

Ms Khan indicated that on Tuesday, 10 October 2023, SAIDS filed a notice to challenge WADA’s non-compliance declaration against South Africa through the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS). WADA has confirmed that it has received the formal notification from SAIDS, which disputes the allegation of non-compliance and the proposed consequences.

(See Presentation)

SAIDS Annual Report 2022/23

Mr Khalid Galant, CEO, SAIDS, said that the numbers in the Department’s presentation on Committee members’ attendance should be 100% and that figure was in their Annual Report. There might have been a calculation error because a new board was established. He said SAIDS had achieved a clean audit with no material findings.

He said the non-compliance in South Africa’s outdated legislation with the World Anti-Doping Code was an albatross since 2021 and was brought to Parliament’s attention in March 2022. SAIDS had worked with the Department to try and get new legislation passed by April 2024.

He spoke about the performance highlights of SAIDS. Drug testing reflected that 66% of bodybuilders tested positive for multiple steroids and stimulants.

Mr Onke Ngwane, CFO, SAIDS, said there was a deficit of R9.1m because of the resumption of sports after the pandemic. Underspending because of Covid in 2020/21 and 2021/22 had generated a retained surplus of R11.5m. There was R2.3m in irregular expenditure related to contracts found irregular in 2019/20.

(See Presentation)

Discussion
Mr Mhlongo asked for comment on a statement made by the President of SARU that the government was a flop. How much was spent on the appeal against the non-compliance and which law firm was used? He asked SAIDS whether the matter would be resolved before the 2024 Olympics. He said the Department’s oversight of SAIDS was lacking. He asked SAIDS who submitted the proposed legislation to the Department and when was it submitted. Was it followed up with the Department and how often did it engage with the Department? Was there consequence management? He asked SAIDS to share its correspondence on the matter with WADA.

Mr D Joseph (DA) supported the call that the Minister or Deputy Minister should have been present. He asked what the impact would be on hosting international events. He asked SAIDS what had to be amended in the legislation. He said he had raised the issue of passing the legislation previously and in his speech. He commended SAIDS on their audit outcomes. He said the Committee should note bodybuilding’s record of drug abuse which was a concern. He noted the 461 drug tests in rugby and asked at what levels these tests were carried out. What did the term ‘limited assurance’ used in the presentation mean and where was the R11.5m surplus now?

Ms V Malomane (ANC) said that while an appeal was lodged with WADA, there were concerns about whether the flag could be flown during the appeal time. What caused the improvements in non-financial performance from the previous year? What were the challenges around the R6m noted by the AG?

Mr A Zondi (ANC) commended the clean audit and highlighted the surplus. In addition, he asked if the Department raised concerns about the attendance rate at council meetings.

Ms D Sibiya (ANC) commended the gender balance of the board. Did the entity think it would carry on with a deficit in 2023/24? What was the budget for all the championships held from March to August? She said the team demographics did not reflect transformation as there were 35 white female coaches and only four black female coaches. What was ASA doing to ensure racial representation?

The Chairperson clarified that they were discussing SAIDS, not ASA.

Ms R Adams (ANC) said the entity did not seem to have any funding allocated to it from the infrastructure grants. What were the reasons for this? What was the economic impact of not hosting events because of non-compliance with WADA’s protocols? She said SAIDS should prioritise irregular expenditure and finalise the bill’s promulgation.

Mr B Mamabolo (ANC) asked if there was any rehabilitation method for bodybuilders. Were there any anti-doping educational projects done in the country and if so, how many?

On the appeal and the law firm appointed, Mr Galant said that the firm was Level Law in the UK which had assisted SAIDS before. SAIDS would share the legal bundle of correspondence requested, but it was confidential information. He remained optimistic that the timeline of April 2024 would be met, but it was also up to the parliamentary process to assist in meeting the deadline.

On quarterly reports, he said they submitted them to the Department, Treasury, and the DPME.

On how often SAIDS engaged with the Department, he said it was on a weekly basis, but with the non-compliance issue it was on a daily basis.

On whether SAIDS speeded up communication of WADA to the Department, he said he had alerted Parliament in March 2022 and every notice SAIDS received was brought to the attention of the Department and SASCOC. He said the draft legislation was forwarded from the Department’s legal services to the State Law Advisor, who would usher it through Parliament.

On international events that could be affected, he said the focus had been on cricket and rugby but there were national federations like table tennis and canoeing hosting national events that might be affected. The Department had a three-page spreadsheet of events hosted in South Africa.

On what must be amended, he said the legislation was extremely technical and the current legislation’s definitions were all outdated and pre-dated the World Anti-Doping Code. The amendments were related to definitions and not to mandates and jurisdictions.

On the flag, he said the consequences were currently suspended, as stated by WADA, but would come to the fore if the deadline was not met.

On the rehabilitation of bodybuilders, he said that was the role of the national federations.

On the 461 drug tests from rugby, he said it was done at all levels and types of rugby. The majority of positives came from Craven Week.

Mr Ngwane said the term ‘limited assurance’ was a term used by AGSA to describe an audit methodology.

He said the surplus of R11.5m was generated in the prior year because of underspending due to the pandemic. The surplus was declared to Treasury and an application was made to retain and use the surplus and approval was received from Treasury.

On the current deficit, he said the deficit had no effect on future operations for at least the next year.

On consequence management and irregular expenditure, he said there had been no new instances of irregular expenditure in the current year. The irregular expenditure was for contracts of previous years that were found to be irregular.

On the SARU comment, Ms Khan said the sector would react to a situation how they want because it affects them. The Department did not have control over how people reacted. For now, the focus was on fixing the legislation, but the Minister would also be investigating the matter. SAIDS was contesting and disputing the grounds for the suspension by WADA. SAIDS also looked at its own guidelines and rules and amended them to align with the WADA code. Not all countries had policies and legislation like in South Africa. The timelines given by WADA for the legislation to change also were impractical which was brought to the attention of WADA, but WADA did not accept this. The Department has engaged with WADA to show that all legislation was amended, it was only the parliamentary process to be completed.

On the non-compliance impact on international events, she said the Department always made the case for the economic benefits of hosting major events and tourism.

On infrastructure grants, she said there were 25 entities that occupied property. SAIDS did not occupy government property, so did not qualify for the infrastructure grants or allocations.

She said that a compact was signed between all the entities and the Minister.

On the April timeline, Ms Tshikwatamba said the process involved other parties like the State Law Advisor and DPME. The Department was also concerned about the public participation process.

Mr Mhlongo wanted to know how much the appeal would cost. Did they not look at a South African law firm? Which SCM mechanism was used? Who would pay the bill?

The Chairperson asked SAIDS to speak about its preparedness for the Olympics in terms of anti-doping standards.

Mr Mhlongo asked the Chairperson to write to the Speaker to allow the Committee to engage with the amendment.

The Chairperson said it would be easy to do the proposal as the government was committed to the process.

On the appeal costs, Mr Galant said they did not know what the costs were currently. SAIDS had followed the requisite SCM procedures and the foremost issues were the rate, costs and exchange rate. The council agreed to a discounted rate. SAIDS was the signatory to the code and would bear the cost but would discuss support, subsidy, or contributions on the matter with the Department.

On the preparedness of Team SA, he said SAIDS would follow the normal testing framework.

DSAC briefing on ASA
Ms Khan said the ASA financial year ran from 01 January to 31 December annually. In 2022/23, an amount of R6m was transferred to ASA by the Department for administration and for programmes and projects. During the COVID era, the Department accepted higher than usual amounts for administration to ensure that Federations were not severely affected by the decreases in their revenue streams. Major events for 2023 were the SA National Championships in March-April 2023; competing in the Youth African Championships in May 2023, the Budapest World Championships in August, and the road running World Championships in Riga in October 2023.

The findings of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) report were that:

• the youth group component of males was relatively untransformed;
• females at all levels were significantly less transformed and were underrepresented in Athletics’ national participating structures;
• the federation’s coach structure remained substantially untransformed;
• the federation’s Medical and Scientific Practitioner support structure was significantly underdeveloped;
• forecasts reflect little change in the number of forecasted participating primary and senior schools over the forecast period;
• the education system continues to reproduce inequalities through large differences in access to quality education that is linked to location and household income which reduced the participation opportunity and impacted school sport.

(See Presentation)

ASA Annual Report 2022/23

Mr Terrence Magogodela, Acting CEO, ASA, said capacity building in ASA focused on empowering the leadership and management of provincial structures through regular training in order to increase effectiveness and ASA had implemented a coach development strategy to provide ASA structures with the World Athletics Coaches Education and Certification System (CECS).

His presentation also highlighted the demographics of the coaches and ASA’s development program.

Mr Jean Verster, Chairperson: Track and Field, ASA, spoke to ASA’s plan for the Paris Olympics in 2024 and the championships the federation had participated in for the past three years. Currently, the focus is on training camps and ensuring regular participation.

Ms Mphoase Shembeni, CFO, ASA said a deficit of R4.3m was declared due to a delay in grant payment.

ASA highlighted that its main challenges included: the lack of medical and recovery costs, the lack of training camp costs, the lack of sports science, the lack of equipment as well as training facilities, and the lack of normal living costs as athletes need to be trained as full-time professionals.

(See Presentation)

Discussion
Ms Adams asked what the budget for all the championships held between March and August and the first of October 2023 was. Were no further costs needed? What were the measures taken by the Department to address issues in school sports?

Mr Zondi asked how capacity-building training was done. He wanted clarity whether the lack of competition exposure was domestically or internationally. What were the interventions to ensure diversity in sport?

Ms V van Dyk (DA) said R4.2m was spent to represent Caster Semenya’s case and she wanted an update on the court ruling. Could Caster be re-admitted? What was the current talent identification pathway used by ASA? How did the federation ensure equal opportunities for participation? What support did ASA provide athletes, especially in the rural areas? What programs were available for athletic trainers? SA School Athletics Programme supported emerging athletes, how did ASA plan to deal with this? What communication channels were in place between ASA and provinces, clubs, and coaches? What support programmes were there for rural coaches? Did ASA intend to develop scholarship programmes for rural athletes? South Africa did not win any medals for three years in a row at the world championships, what action steps have been taken to address this?

Mr Joseph asked if there were any structures outside ASA linked to SASCOC that were not included in structures. What effort was in place to develop sport at the grassroots level? Was there any form of discrimination in sport? How active was SAIDS in ASA? What services were impacted by the budget cut of the Department? On transformation, he said only 50% of dysfunctional schools were in federations. What efforts were there to implement transformation? Were all payments and rewards equal under gender equality? What were the total costs to ASA on the Caster Semenya case?

On the EPG matters in the 2018/19 report, Ms Malomane asked what measures the Department had taken to address sports in public schools. She said the Department stated that there were challenges in schools, due to factors of inequality. What was its view on the challenge of inequality as ASA’s athletics programme had yielded good results at the junior and youth levels?

Ms Sibiya said the team demographics did not represent transformative representation. What was ASA doing to achieve a balanced racial representation?

Mr Mhlongo said ASA should move its offices from its current premises. He said the Chairman should give an overview of the CEO issue and what was happening currently. There had been an acting CEO for more than four years. What intervention was taken on the issue of the Soweto Marathon? Did ASA have an app (dashboard) covering its indicators?

Ms Adams asked ASA if it had reached the four main objectives it set out at its inception. Was there a date set for the conference on addressing women's challenges?

Ms Sibiya said the Department had increased the budget for federations during the Covid era to ensure federations were not impacted. Despite this, the federations had a deficit. Was the grant not enough? What was the budget for all the championships from March to August and from the first of October 2023?

Mr Joseph asked what the financial year was. What was the increase in financial expenses, was it for external work that needed to be done? He said big events like the Cape Town Marathon should be highlighted in terms of the role sports played in the economy.  

Mr E Mthethwa (EFF) asked if ASA knew about Vincent Rakabaele and if it was doing anything for him.

Responding to the questions, Mr Moloi said 90% of the board were former athletes.

On not winning medals at the world championships, he said he had summoned all coaches to a coaching symposium. 50% were from rural areas and in the future there would be one every year. They were trying to increase the number of female coaches. ASA was negotiating with municipalities for a MoU on facilities. Whites were dominating because they had the facilities. This inequality could be addressed within a year or two if there were MoUs in place with municipalities and universities. He was developing a database of ex- athletes who could be involved in training and managing.

On the Soweto Marathon, he said that it was back and had sponsorship from African Bank.

On the matter of the acting CEO, he said the CEO was in an acting capacity for five years, which was out of order and ASA was trying to get money to fill that position.

On the matter of the CEO and the SIU, he said nobody had written ASA a letter complaining about the CEO, it was in the newspapers. The CEO had explained his case and a board meeting was called to discuss the way forward. The CEO was given 35 days to sort out the matter as it did not involve ASA. The CEO had returned with a letter from the SIU and the lawyers that everything had been settled and ASA had accepted this letter.

On the issue of women, he said there was a person on ASA’s board dealing with women issues named Norma Nonkonyane.

On the issue of training capacity, he said more training capacity was needed. In terms of development, he said that if they could get sponsorship money, they wanted development offices in all regions and rural areas. Elana Meyer had approached ASA to assist with development.  

Ms Shembeni said the expenses for 2022 were higher because in 2021 there were two international events that were moved to 2022 leading to a deficit of R4.3m.

Mr Verster said that athletics was an exact sport with set qualification criteria. ASA had made a decision that anyone who met the qualification criteria and was healthy would be taken to world championships. The largest contingent ever was taken to the African Championship in Mauritius.

On not medalling for the past three world Championships, he said the smaller teams taken in the past meant that many people left the sport or took up another sport. People did not medal at their first attempt, and athletes needed experience. It was extremely difficult to medal and athletes needed the experience of going to championships. He said that there was a vibrant school system.

On the issue of gender equality, Mr Verster said they took all athletes that qualified and the Mauritius team had more females than males. The area ASA was struggling with was the first three years after youths became seniors and this was one of the reasons why there was no gender equality.

On equal payment, Mr Moloi said that in athletics there was equal payment.

On the Caster Semenya case, he said he wanted to thank the government and the Committee for their support. She had won the case at the European Human Rights Court and ASA was waiting for the lawyer to indicate the way forward from here. She was coaching athletes currently.

Also on the Caster Semenya case, Mr Verster said he was Caster’s coach and she was now a coach, mentor, and heroine to many people. She won the case at the court which proved that her case and the way she was treated was not handled correctly. This case was not at the IAAF level, so she was still not allowed to compete and in any case, the rules had been changed since then and included even lower testosterone levels.

On anti-doping, he said ASA and SAIDS had two to three times more tests done on athletes compared to other sports and worked closely with the integrity unit of World Athletics and on out-of-season testing.

On the affordability of joining clubs, he said most of ASA’s income came from SuperSport and its members. In the North West rural area, there was assistance, and in rural areas, there was no way children could not compete.

Mr Sabata Kumalo, Chairperson, SASA Athletics, said schools were doing very well in terms of participation. [His additional remarks were inaudible].

Mr Mhlongo wanted ASA to share the certificate clearing the CEO with the Committee. What was the turnaround time to achieve the development goal in rural communities? He said the strategic plan needed to be updated. Which of ASA’s strategic plan goals aligned with the NDP of the African Union Agenda?

Mr Mthethwa said ASA did not appear to give a commitment on women’s participation, saying that it was not in their control and was based on qualification criteria and he differed on that because one identified a talent and groomed it. There should be a structured process.

On the certificate, Mr Moloi said they would deliver it.

On Vincent Rakabaele, he said he was from Lesotho. ASA would approach the Lesotho Federation in this regard.

On addressing women’s participation, Mr Jazz Mnyengeza (USSA Chairperson), said they had introduced a system to have understudies when seminars were held.

On not depending on sponsors, he said they had discussed how this could be done, including the introduction of levies to address development issues. They had tried to develop an app the previous year, but the development costs were expensive so they were developing a database on athletics including officials, coaches, and athletes instead. Once this was in place, they would be able to monitor. They had discovered that in Upington and the Eastern Cape there had been fewer cross-country events than expected. He remarked that the ASA constitution was in the process of being amended.

On late transfer payments to sports federations, Ms Khan said the Department did have issues in the previous year because their legal services had had an audit finding on sports people who worked in government and had declared it, and this delayed payments. This year, communication with federations was improved and the allocation outlook was being extended to three years to assist the federations do their planning.

On school sports, she said athletics was one of the 16 priority school sports codes and all provinces participated in the national schools championships. Many were earmarked to join the talent identification pathway. She said the Department had hosted a successful school sports indaba and that report was being finalised.

On the Caster Semenya programme, she said the Department had contributed financially to the federation’s legal team and to Caster’s legal team. The Department had also established a panel of experts in the legal and medical field and in social mobilisation and advocacy to ensure the issue was a human rights issue. A human rights intervention was presented by the then Minister at the Commonwealth Ministers of Sport meeting in Birmingham and there had been an intervention at the United Nations where a resolution was passed. The Women’s Sports Foundation had found the regulations to be discriminatory. Parliament also unanimously condemned the regulations. South Africa had assisted Namibia, which had two athletes in a similar situation to Semenya’s.  

Mr Moloi said they had started to televise competitions, especially for children in primary and high schools and universities, to encourage children to join athletics. He urged Committee members to participate in the Soweto Marathon.

On the issue of athlete support, Mr Hendrick Mokganyetsi, Athletes Commission Chairperson, said he wanted to thank SASCOC for financial assistance and the Department. ASA was focused on increasing the participation of the youth and juniors and the target was mass participation. The indicator for this was the interprovincial championships. The second focus was to increase clubs in rural areas where schools would register as clubs and the district championships would be re-activated. The third focus would be an intervention on the age progress of athletes. The World Youth Championships had seen seven athletes participating and four gold, one silver, and three bronze medals were won and two Commonwealth youth records were broken. One of the indicators here, was the accreditation of national coaches through programmes so that they could deliver high-performance athletes.

The meeting was adjourned.