2010 World Cup Committee and Department Preparations: briefings

Meeting report

SPORTS AND RECREATION PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
15 February 2005
2010 WORLD CUP COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT PREPARATIONS: BRIEFINGS

Chairperson: Mr B Komphela (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Municipal Infrastructure Grant
Mamosali Motswai: Legal perspective on Department’s involvement in 2010 World Cup
Danny Jordaan’s and Mansoor Parker’s briefing for 2010 Ad Hoc Committee:
Part 1
Part 2
Gideon Boshoff’s legal perspective for 2010 Ad Hoc Committee

SUMMARY
The Committee was briefed by the Minister and Deputy Minister of Sports and Recreation on issues surrounding the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The Minister also elaborated on the issue of transformation in sports. Various groups such as the 2010 World Cup Ad Hoc Committee and the Department of Provincial and Local Government also gave presentations on their progress with 2010 Soccer World Cup preparations.

Members were concerned about the involvement of local government in building and maintaining sports facilities; whether realistic targets were being set for the World Cup effort ,and whether provinces would be involved in decision-making on the tournament stadiums to be used.

MINUTES
The Chairperson stated that though the Minister of Sports visitation was not on the Committee’s initial agenda, changes had been made to accommodate the Minister. The Committee had been trying to meet with the Minister for a long time and this would be a good opportunity to do so. He asked the Minister to comment on the Committee’s work as it related to targets that have been set and the transformation process and its relationship to sports and recreation. The Minister was also asked by the Chairperson to clarify how sports fitted into the Department of Education. Finally the Minister was also asked to outline the state of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant and how local government and the Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) were going to work together.

The Minister before commenting asked Mr Denver Hendricks, the Head of Sports and Recreation South Africa within the Department to make some comments on the issues raised by the Chairperson.

Mr Hendricks stated that the National Treasury had made some money available to establish a unit in the Department that would be considering government involvement in 2010. The unit he stated had been established and one of its purposes was to seek government interest relating to 2010 and to take charge of the hosting of all major events surrounding 2010. Ms Mamosali Motsau from the Department of Water Affairs had been delegated the responsibilities for this unit.

The Minister of Sports and Recreation, Rev Stofile stated that the primary responsibility of the Committee was to conduct oversight over government Departments and that Ms Motsau was a client of the Committee in respect of the 2010 World Cup. Also, it was important for the Committee to assist the Provinces to do what was good for sports and to take good care of sporting facilities that existed in the country.

Transformation in sport was a pivotal issue that was misconstrued by the Confederations and many other people. It is therefore the responsibility of the DSR to define transformation. Sports and recreation as part of the South African society is part of change and this was where the Department drew its inspiration from. The tool that had been stipulated to carry out transformation was the policy document. Freedom would be achieved by the people of South Africa and the change needed from the old Apartheid regime could only come if Black people get those things that they were excluded from receiving in the old South Africa. Many federations understood this explanation but were refusing to practice it.

He stated further that many black players were only listed on Provincial documents as been qualified for certain sports, but they never got to perform on the sports pitch. The national rugby president showed him a list of 90 black players, but these players were never seen on the rugby pitch. He asserted further that the Confederations were too concerned about winning, but the important question was who wins. Unifying transformation was needed and each sporting section would not be allowed to set their own transformation agendas.

He mentioned further that local governing councils were not interested in sports and sport was not a priority for them. The Department and Committee must lobby them as such to take an interest in sports. This could be done by: 1) making sure that each local government applied its efforts to support sport, 2) assisting the local government to get what they needed to support sports, 3) conducting an audit of sporting facilities in various Provinces and 4) establishing a structure for dealing with issues at the local level and to establish local sports councils so that they themselves managed these facilities.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister for his comments and asked the Deputy Minister to comment on the issue of schools sport. The Deputy Minister, Mr G Oosthuizen, stated that the issue of schools sport was still being discussed and needed approval from the Ministers. He suggested that the Committee be briefed separately at a later date.

The Minister interrupted and stated that the Deputy Minister needed to also mention that the Department of Education had asked for funding on the schools sports issue but had not received any money. He concluded that the Department would need the help of the Committee and MPs in this matter.

The Chairperson stated that the issue of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant was a major issue in almost all Provinces that the Committee visited. He asked Mr Hendricks to comment on the issue.

Mr Hendricks stated that the Department’s former role of building up sports and recreation within the country would be closed immediately as of next month to allow the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) to take over. After four years of running this programme, the present work of the Department as indicated by the Minister was advocacy. Policy development was also one of the new roles assumed by the Department. As the Minister also mentioned, Local Governments had less interest in building sports and recreation. In this regard, only 34 Municipalities had expressed their interest in sports and recreation building. The Department therefore, would need to build a strong advocacy capability to engage all of the local governments with regards to building and renovating sporting facilities.

He further stated that there was a huge backlog of facilities and that he had mentioned to the Committee over and over that the Department needed R5 billion to meet the backlog. He concluded that the National Policy Plan was in action and that a report would be made at the appropriate time.

Department of Provincial and Local Government Presentation
Mr Patrick Fusack stated that the Minister’s point was well taken. He also stated that the money for sports and recreation would become part of this financial year. He asserted that local governments had problems collecting money from their Municipalities and as such government had provided a window of opportunity in the form of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant. Government was allocating R16 billion to Municipalities. It was very difficult to expect DPLG to deal with issues when it had limited capabilities to do so.

The Minister stated that the DPLG needed to set up a unit that would visit Municipalities and assist them on the issues of sports and recreation development. He also stated that DPLG needed to devise a strategy for Municipalities to deal with facilities.

The Chairperson stated that the DPLG would be called to meet with the Committee as there were many issues to be dealt with that could not be addressed in this meeting.

Department briefing on World Cup preparations
Mr Hendricks stated that the Department was beginning to feel the pressure for 2010 and that the FIFA inspection team would be in the country soon. He also stated that a group of Germans had agreed to train human resources for 2010. He then asked Ms. Motsau to brief the Committee on the legal issues about the event.

Ms Motsau stated that hosting the 2010 World Cup also meant amongst other things winning the confidence of the international community. She also stated that the Organisation Association Agreement had been signed by SAFA and FIFA in August 2003 and October 2004 respectively. Furthermore, a legal workshop involving various representatives of Government and FIFA had been held to discuss any uncertainties that pertained to legislation. This would ensure that government fulfilled its mandate in terms of the guarantees made available to FIFA.

World Cup Ad Hoc Committee briefing
Mr D Jordaan of the Ad Hoc Committee for the World Cup spoke about the implications of 2010. He mentioned the economic impact, tickets, spectators, tourism and many other aspects of the event. He asserted that it was very important to balance the interest of the event and the needs of local residents. It was a high priority that the World Cup leaves behind a social legacy for South Africans.

Discussion
Mr C Frolick (ANC) asked about the deadline of selecting sites for the 2010 event.

Ms Motsau stated that the stadiums would have to be selected before selecting the sites.

Mr S Masango (DA) asked how realistic the World Cup Committee was in setting its targets. He also wanted to know if new stadiums were going to be built.

Mr Jordaan answered that the World Cup could be hosted with eight venues even though the Committee had indicated 13 venues. The Committee could decide to use available stadiums or build new ones depending on what happened in the future. The Committee had between now and June 2008 before FIFA included or excluded cities based on their capabilities to host an event. The issue of eight or 13 stadiums was crucial and needed to be resolved as soon as possible. The reason was that cities were conducting feasibility studies on their own and spending money with the hope of hosting an event during the World Cup. There was also a political dimension involved. City Mayors seeking election were also promising that if they were elected they would bring the World Cup to their cities.

Mr Hendricks stated that money was a major problem. He stated that the Department had not heard from the Treasury on the issue of funding 13 stadiums.

Mr T Louw (ANC) asked whether the Provinces were going to be included in the decision making process for the World Cup. He also stated that in a previous meeting with the Ad Hoc Committee, the Portfolio Committee was told that there would be a stadium in every Province. This was not mentioned in the ad hoc committee’s current presentation.

Mr Jordaan stated that it was up to the cities to decide on the stadiums. He stated that the committee had submitted a full list of cities to the government. The ad hoc committee would then decide to do an audit on each city to assess facilities. The audit he stated was not completed and as such, no city was excluded. The issue should be part of an integrated development process with the cities. It was also important to consider what would happen to the stadiums in these cities after the World Cup.

The Chairperson commented that there were issues that needed to be noted but he did not expect an answer from the presenters. The role of the Provinces in the decision-making process for the World Cup was one major issue for the Portfolio Committee. He also stated that the World Cup needed to leave behind some legacies for the children of the country after government had committed so much.

Mr Jordaan requested that if the Committee could speed up the process with the legislation when it received it that would make the work of the ad hoc committee easier and faster.

The Chairperson stated that the legislation would be given priority when it came before the Portfolio Committee. After consultation with Members, he also stated that the SA Football Association (SAFA) would not be allowed to meet with the Committee until a full delegation consisting of senior officials was represented.

The meeting was adjourned.