Question NW435 to the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture

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09 September 2024 - NW435

Profile picture: Jacobs, Mr LC

Jacobs, Mr LC to ask the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture

(1). Whether his department has reimbursed the family of Olympic silver medalist Ms. Jo-Anne van Dyk for what they have used to prepare for the games; if not, by what date will the specified family be reimbursed; if so, what are the relevant detail. (2). What are the relevant details of his department to increase its financial support to all athletes and federations to improve the performance of athletes in major championships?

Reply:

(1). The family of Ms Jo-Anne van Dyk has not been reimbursed. After the 2024 Paris Olympics there have been further engagements with the affected parties, and it emerged that there was a level of miscommunication on this matter. All athletes that participated at the 2024 Paris Olympics were supported by their various federations through the qualification periods, for example at the World Athletics Championships, and Confederation of African Athletics Championships.

In addition, all the costs, including allowances for participating at the 2024 Paris Olympics, were covered by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee. It is true that Ms van Dyk was not part of the Bidvest Operation Excellence Programme, which provides dedicated support to athletes in preparation for the major competitions. These athletes are identified by their National Federations based on their performances at the time of the call to be considered for the Bidvest Operation Excellence Programme, and sometimes athletes who are truly excellent are missed, which can also be rectified later. Ms van Dyk will continue to receive support to prepare and participate in major competitions through her National Federation, Athletics South Africa, and multi-coded major competitions through the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.

(2). Increasing financial support is dependent on the budget allocated to Sport by National Treasury. It is evident from the current budget allocated to sport in total for all sport programmes that all concerned role players such as Parliament and National Treasury need to assist in lobbying for better budget allocation. However, the Department is currently engaging various stakeholders, including corporate sponsors, to ensure investments in programmes and the expansions of budgets to support existing high-performance programmes.

We have also had a very promising engagement with the National Lotteries Commission, which would like to recommit to funding sport.

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