Department of Sport & Recreation: briefing

JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN, YOUTH AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITY
17 March 2000
BRIEFING BY THE DEPARTMENT OF SPORT AND RECREATION

Documents handed out:
Presentation to the Committee (See Appendix 1)

Chairperson: Ms H Bogopane

MINUTES
The Chairperson indicated that the ILO Convention 182 was taken before the House on 16 March 2000 and awaits ratification. This was before the Committee could consider it and make its recommendations. The Chairperson then asked if there are any issues members would like to raise to be forwarded to the Speaker of the House in relation to the Convention.

Ms Mbuyazi (IFP) pointed out that their study group supports the ratification of the Convention, but would like to raise the following concerns:
That labour in as far as it concerns commercial, private and private labour of children is child labour and not acceptable. However, the tasking of children by parents at home to perform certain duties is not child labour. Also, the study group would exempt advertising from child labour as it contributes to the development of the child. No person is allowed to profit at the expense of a child.

The Chairperson said that the IFP's recommendations were noted together with exemptions that were raised by the Department of Labour.

Department of Sport and Recreation Presentation
The Chairperson said that the Committee would expect the presentation of the Department to cover the following:
what policies it has regarding children, youth and disabled persons;
what programs it plans to implement;
how much of its total budget is allocated to programs specifically aimed at children, youth and disabled persons;
anticipated programs acknowledging gaps in the Department's policies relating to children, youth and disabled persons.

Ms Rita Horn, PM: Development and Facilities, gave the Department's presentation (see appendix). She opened by giving a short overview of the Department. The Department requires 111 staff members but presently 93 positions are filled. Its total budget allocation is R54 Million. It is hoped that the new integrated approach between Departments would be of assistance. As a result of staff shortages the Department depends on agents such as NOCSA, NSC, and National Sports Federations. Also there are representatives of the big five sports we usually see on TV, namely, athletics, cricket, net-ball, Soccer and Rugby.

Discussion
Advocate M Masutha (ANC) stated that he would like to register a reservation about the use of the term "Macrocko-crocko" to denote the disabled persons national team. This indicates ignorance of the challenges facing people in building confidence and self-esteem.

Ms Horn stated that the media had adopted the name and the Department could not take responsibility for the use thereof. If the Committee feels that any recommendation regarding the name should go to the Minister, she would be willing to relay the request.

He enquired why the activity of the Department is situated mostly at a historically White university. This is the reason why most teams of disabled people reflect an abundance of White talent only. This is an indictment on the Department and the feeling is that it should also apply to regions northwards.

The response was that the pilot project had been undertaken at Stellenbosch University because it had the technical support. The next project would be in the Northern Province presumably at the University of North.

The Department was asked if it plans to roll out any programs for mainstream schools, and whether it is working with the Department of Education as a collective in this regard. The Department of Education had indicated that it intends to introduce 500 inclusive schools in the mainstream, it would be interesting to know whether there are plans to integrate the two Departments' plans.

The Department replied that it had only started working with the Department of Education and money issues had not been discussed.

Mr VC Gore (DP) pointed out that the policies of the Department seem to display an aspect of exclusion versus inclusion. There is a policy for the mainstream athletes and one for disabled athletes. For instance in the All Africa Games, there was TV coverage for mainstream sports and none for disabled sports. Some houses were not accessible to the disabled persons.

The Department always has the disabled in its policy and they are included in its programs. There are no additional costs involved in adding disabled persons at a later stage. Regarding TV coverage, the Supreme Sports Committee of Africa prescribes which sports are to be covered.

Mr LP Nzimande (ANC) said he shares Adv. Masutha's sentiments regarding terminology. He wanted to know how it is expected that NOCSA would integrate and transform sport when it is itself racially exclusive.

NOCSA is committed to sport development and has to adhere to the Department's funding policy (which sets out how groups should be addressed). If the Committee has any particular suggestions the Department would like to consider those.

Mr CM Morkel (NNP) wanted to know what the distinction is between sport and recreation.

The Department would prefer not to draw a distinction between the two. Recreation relates to mass participation while sport entails particular specific skills that are then taken to a higher level of performance in competitions.

What sort of monitoring does the Department have over the spending of RDP funds at local levels of Government.

Ms Horn pointed out that around 1994 the Department had already started building out of its own budget but had run out of funds. When the RDP came it restarted the process. The intention is to begin community education programs to compel councils to make facilities accessible. It is for the provinces and local authorities to see to the maintenance of the facilities and making them accessible to everyone.

Regarding injury prevention, the Department has a Drug Institute and hands out information to children regarding AIDS. The issue of injury prevention is something mostly left to sports federations to take care of.

Adv. Masutha wanted to know whether the Department would be in a position to facilitate a debate on the issue of disabled persons and sport, not necessarily limited to the issue of terminology.

The Department indicated that it would be important to facilitate a debate around these issues. Ms Horn pointed out that a conference was held in 1999 on the issue of racism in sport.

Ms Bogopane observed that this is a crucial point, even on the Committee side it would be important to facilitate a debate along political lines on the issues.

Ms Mbuyazi wanted to find out how gender sensitive the Department is when drawing its budget. She noted with concern that there seems to be a form of stereotyping that says only "male" sports should be promoted amongst women and not the other way round. For instance men are not encouraged to participate in net-ball and soft-ball. There also seems to be discrimination against the aged when it comes to sport.

It was pointed out that WASA (Women and Sports in South Africa) had been set up which is a Ministerial Committee to serve as advisory to the Minister to ensure women sport is represented. It has not been up to expectation. Senior SINGALA was aimed at dealing with the aged and sport, and 1999 had been designated as the year of the old in sport. The Department is looking at the issue of discrimination in sport against the aged.

Mr M Moss (ANC) wanted the Department to elaborate on what they are doing to promote sport's role in facilitating reconciliation and unity.

The issue of sport's role in nation building is receiving attention in the Department. The plan is to address this in the Department's funding policy.

Does the Department have a plan of involving youth implicated in gang activity in sport.

The Department believes that sport would play an important role in keeping children off the streets and away from gang-related activity.

Mr Moss wanted to hear the Department's comment regarding the accessibility of sports stadiums for wheelchairs. He referred to a personal experience where it took him more than 20 minutes to get into Newlands Stadium and once inside having to watch from the field because there was no place for the disabled.

The Department always makes input regarding accessibility in the building of new facilities. But with old facilities it becomes very difficult to do so. At the moment the Department is trying to draw a database of infrastructure and the accessibility to each.

Does the Department provide assistance to rural youth who participate in sport with sports gear and equipment and in securing sponsors.

The Department has tried to assist with sports equipment but not with clothing as they are not allowed to do so. What the Department has attempted is to work with the Sports Trust and looking at whether they could bring good used sportswear. The Department would like to offer training to rural people to build capacity for them to be able to assist themselves.

Ms Mbuyazi asked whether the street children program is in all provinces and if the Department is dealing with organised groups because there are some street children not attached to such groups.

Ms Horn replied that to her knowledge the Department has been working with the shelter groups in Gauteng.

Mr KM Gigaba (ANC) said that in most schools there is an absence of sport. If sport is neglected, it is wiped out of the agenda of teachers and learners. There is no more excitement with even schools that produced the best athletes not concerned about sport anymore. There needs to be a vigorous program to promote sport in schools and the Department needs to pay attention to that.

Also he believed that passion for sport has died in rural areas and small towns. Weekends do not mean anything at all. Rather than go to sports stadiums youth prefers to go to shebeens. These now provide a place of social interaction for young and old without discrimination, and has taken the place of sport among the youth.

The Department replied that, together with the Department of Education, it is working on draft policy to address sport in schools. The aim is to train teachers to make sport interesting for learners. There is USSASA which is a body looking at school sport though not represented in all schools. This body will be audited to see if they are able to look after interests of school sport

A rural development strategy had been started by the Department in Northern Province, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal, and this is intended to spread to other provinces as well.

A committee member noted that indigenous sports such as stick fighting needed to be given some attention and rural people should be encouraged to take part and promote their sports. There needs to be a profiling of such indigenous sports and promotion of them at a national level.

The Department replied that it has requested the provinces to draw up a report on indigenous sports and say what they are doing to improve participation in them. At the moment there has been no feedback from the provinces.

Mr Morkel said the air-time bought by the Department could be used as an opportunity to change perceptions about disabled sports persons. He is of the belief that more should be spend by the Government on sport as it teaches the rules of life as it would result in less spending on safety and security.

The Department said that it has had funds for air-time for only one year. The reason air-time was bought was to give minor sports an opportunity to be featured. It is agreed that this might be a good tool to feature a message about disabled persons.

Mr AC Nel (ANC) asked for clarity on what particular areas the amounts, noted in the Department's report, were spent on.

Ms Rita Horn indicated that the amounts were spent on administration and projects, mostly depending on the requirements of each program. For instance, the amount for the Report on Youth was spent on outsourcing.

Mr Nel said that resources were allocated, but not what facilities were set up and the concrete effect of these on the ground.

The Department has not been able to go out and monitor as it should have because of lack of personnel; it is required to do so by the Public Finance Management Act.

A committee member said that the Department participates on the Committee on Youth Affairs but could it give an indication of how much it values its participation in the forum. The Youth Commission had protested that although Departments do participate, they tend to send in junior staff members or it alternates people so that there is no continuity in the functioning of the Committee.

The Department responded that it has an official representative on the Committee who regularly attends and contributes in the functioning of the Committee. In a recent report given by the official it was indicate that he contributed to the report on the Social Sector Committee.

It was noted that the Department of Correctional Services spends lots of money on sport and has quite substantial sports infrastructure (both physical and human resources). The same would go for Departments such as Defence. Was there any synergy between the Department of Sport and Recreation and such Departments as an interim measure to deal with issues of accessibility and training.

The SINGALA project is training Correctional Services staff on how to run sports. The Departments have indicated that they do not have funds to run the facilities. The Department of Sport and Recreation cannot afford the maintenance costs that would be involved in running the facilities.

A Committee member asked how many disabled people does the Department have on its staff.

Ms Horn responded that she is aware of a deaf person who is employed as a typist.

A member of the Committee pointed out that since the Department has indicated that it requires 111 staff members and currently has 93 filled positions, the remaining positions should be filled by disabled people.

In conclusion, the Chairperson noted the following:
- The issues of racism in sport and division between Black and White sport needed to be looked at. NAPCOSA has continued under the Department's funding policy for four years without showing any intention of trying to change. She said she is not convinced that they are going to change.

- The Department needs to consider its human resources policies, when employing disabled people it should not be just for the sake of statistics. The Department should not employ people who will resign because they find conditions not conducive to work under. For instance, it was noted that the one disabled person employed as secretary in the Department does not have an interpreter.

- On the issue of public relations, the Department has to come up with a communication strategy so that the public would know what the Department is offering. The Department needs to empower parents of disabled children to acknowledge their talents and give them support and encouragement.

- Of particular concern is the relation between the Department of Sport and Recreation and the Department of Education. The Department of Sport and Recreation has to give guidelines to sports federations on prevention of injury since there is a risk that injury in sport might lead to disability.

- The Department has to pay particular attention to sports interests for people with disabilities. Regarding screening, the Department has to draw up guidelines or norms and standards to be followed so that there is some certainty in the process of screening players.

- The Department needs to look into the issue of accessibility and location of facilities. The Committee would also be interested in knowing what the relation between the Office of Status of Children in the President's office and the Department is, and especially at what level does the Department include the Office of Status of Children in its decision making. The Department was requested to put these aspects in writing and submit the response to the Committee not later than 10 April 2000.

The Chairperson noted that the Committee had requested the Department of Housing to also give a briefing but it had not arrived nor had they received an apology. She indicated that a letter would be written to the Minister of Housing for an explanation.

Appendix 1
PRESENTATION TO THE JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF EQUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF YOUTH, CHILDREN AND DISABLED PERSONS.

DEPARTMENT OF SPORT AND RECREATION

PROJECT: MASS SCREENING FOR BASIC SPORTING ABILITY

INTRODUCTION: The Department of Sport and Recreation initiated a mass screening for basic sporting ability in an effort to identify talented children and to channel them into suitable development programmes. A pilot project was implemented whereby approximately 1500 children from all provinces (excluding Mpumalanga) were tested. The children, aged between 12 and 13 years, were primarily from disadvantaged communities (75%). The results from the pilot project were used to structure and refine the implementation of a larger project where 1000 children per province (total of 9 000 children) were tested. A total of 232 teachers were trained as screeners and provided with screening kits. The top 2% of the children tested will be selected and re-tested for talent. The United School Sport Association of South Africa (USSASA) was contracted to co-ordinate and implement this project and the SISA accredited testing centres assisted with training the screeners.

PROJECT: (1) NATIONAL RECREATION PROGRAMMES AND (2) THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL GAMES AND LESUIRE ACTIVITIES (SANGALA) PROGRAMME
INTRODUCTION: The function of recreation lies more in the experience derived from the activity than the activity itself. The DSR is committed to "providing positive recreation opportunities for all". Recreation can be harnessed to promote harmony amongst the country's people, leadership opportunities and the development of a healthy society. Recreation and sport are linked in a symbiotic relationship. Recreation is much more than participation in physical activity and general fitness. It is based of the four key principles of : (a) being demand-driven and community based; (b) participation in recreation is a fundamental right of every person (c) equitable resource allocation where priority is given to disadvantaged communities in the provisioning of programmes and (d) a co-ordinated effort and integrated development through a network of service deliverers in the public and private sector.

PROJECT: MASS SCREENING FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

INTRODUCTION: The Department of Sport and Recreation funded a pilot project, co-ordinated by the University of Stellenbosch, aimed at including children with disabilties in the mainstream mass screening project. The programme has been piloted in the Western Cape and it is envisaged that an additional pilot project will be run in the Northern Province in April 2000. Recommendations emanating from these two pilots will be used to adapt the current programme to include children with disabilities.

PROJECT: THE FULL INCLUSION OF ATHLETES WITH DISABILITIES IN THE SISA HIGH PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME

INTRODUCTION: The Department of Sport and Recreation funded a research project, coordinated by the University of Stellenbosch, which focussed on the full inclusion of athletes with disabilities in the SISA High Performance Programme (HPP). The aim of the research project was to adapt the current SISA HPP to optimally cater for athletes with disabilities. The project commenced in December 1998 and is currently in the process of being finalised. The project had the full support of the National Paralympic Committee of South Africa (NAPCOSA) who were intimately involved in the research design and implementation. It is envisaged that this project will make a significant impact towards meeting the needs of disabled athletes in terms of sports scientific support. Through exposure to training/sensitivity programmes, the SISA testing centres will also be empowered in terms of optimally meeting the needs of disabled athletes, and in ultimately improving their performances on the international arena.

PROJECT: RURAL SPORT DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION: THE AIM OF RURAL SPORT DEVELOPMENT IS TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO SPORTS AS WELL AS MASS PARTICIPATION WITH A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE YOUTH AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

PROJECT: DEVELOPMENT GRANTS-IN-AID TO NATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS
INTRODUCTION: THE DSR ASSISTS NATIONAL FEDERATIONS WITH DEVELOPMENT GRANTS. ONE AREA THAT FEDERATIONS FOCUS ON IS PROGRAMMES FOR JUNIORS

PROJECT: PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

INTRODUCTION: THE AIM WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT GRANT TO NAPCOSA, IS TO PROMOTE PARTICIPATION IN SPORT AMONG PEOLE WITH DISABILITIES

PROJECT: JUNIOR SPORT POLICY

INTRODUCTION: THIS POLICY WILL BE DEVELOPED IN THE COMING FINANCIAL YEAR WITH THE AIM OF STREAMLINING THE APPROACHES OF SPORTS FEDERATIONS TO SPORT FOR THE YOUTH

PROJECT: SCHOOL SPORT POLICY

INTRODUCTION: THE DSR AND THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION JOINTLY SPONSORED RESEARCH INTO SCHOOL SPORT DEVELOPMENT. THE RESEARCH HAS NOW BEEN COMPLETED AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FINDINGS IS CURRENTLY BEING DEBATED

PROJECT: STABILISATION OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH

INTRODUCTION: THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT WAS TO CREATE SPORT AND RECREATION FACILITIES INFRASTRUCTURE TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO SPORT AND RECREATION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN PARTICUALR

PROJECT: Sport for people with disabilities

INTRODUCTION: The Department of Sport and Recreation is committed to ensuring access to sport and recreation for all South Africans with a view to improving the quality of life of the citizens of the country. The approach of the Department is an inclusive one that aims to make sport for people with disabilities part of the mainstream sports activities in the country.