Hansard: EPC: Debate on Vote No 40 – Sport and Recreation South Africa
House: National Assembly
Date of Meeting: 20 May 2015
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
EPC – OLD ASSEMBLY CHAMBER
Wednesday, 20 May 2015 Take: 106
Wednesday, 20 may 2015
____
Proceedings of extended public committee –chamber of the old assembly
____
Members of the Extended Public Committee met in the Chamber of the Old Assembly at 17:12.
House Chairperson Ms A T Didiza, as Chairperson, took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): On behalf of the Minister, we would like to welcome his guests in the gallery ... [Interjections.] She is not here. [Laughter.] ... who are also the guests of Parliament.
There are some housekeeping rules for the members in the gallery. When statements are made by the members or even the Minister that are exciting – maybe congratulating you – you are not allowed to participate. This means that you cannot clap your hands. Secondly, if there are statements that irritate you a bit, you are also not supposed to interject from where you are seated. You can just show your displeasure in your facial expression, but you must be quiet.
It is the members who will participate in whichever way they choose, but I will also try and manage them so that they don’t drown out the speakers. Thank you very much for observing the housekeeping rules.
The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza)
|
Appropriation Bill
Debate on Vote No 40 – Sport and Recreation South Africa:
The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: House Chairperson, Chairperson of the parliamentary committee on Sport and Recreation, MECs of sport from various provinces, the director-general, hon members, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, we return to this House this afternoon to present the ninth smallest budget allocation among all the 40 national departments, which is the budget allocation for the national Department of Sport and Recreation in South Africa on this particular occasion of the2015-16 Budget Vote.The total allocation for the department stands at R988,5 million, having gone up by only R18,1 million from the previous year’s allocation of R970,4 million. This constitutes a 1,87% budget growth from the previous year.
An amount of R628,6 million of this budget has been allocated towards the provision of mass participation opportunities and recreation under the banner of our Active Nation programme. In practical terms, this means that 64% of our entire budget is channelled towards our development programmes. This prioritisation is not by coincidence or some miracle of nature. It is a deliberate and principled stance informed by our commitment that it is only through optimal investment towards development that we can truly achieve transformation in sport.
A bird’s eye view of the rest of our budget allocation per programme is as follows:R628,6 million is allocated to support the provision of mass participation; R133,2 million goes to develop and maintain an integrated support system to enhance the delivery of sport; R124,8 million is allocated for the provision of strategic leadership, management and support services; R92,2 million to support the development of elite athletes, and R9,7 million goes towards the regulation and management of the provision of sport and recreation facilities.
My colleague the Deputy Minister Gert Oosthuizen will later share with this hon House our plans and allocation regarding Programme 1: Administration as well as other specific sub-programmes under various programme areas.
It must be noted that this budget allocation will only fund smaller portions of the approved national Sport and Recreation Plan. In order to implement the national Sport and Recreation Plan in full, an estimated budget of R10 billion per annum is required over the next three years. Due to other competing priorities and pressures on our National Treasury, there is currently no space for additional funding. We are however encouraged by the space and support which we continue to receive from our government to ensure sport and recreation thrives. We implore all potential partners, particularly the private sector to join hands with us in the implementation of the national Sport and Recreation Plan.
Today, we meet at the time when the nation mourns the untimely departure of our struggle stalwart, former MP, ambassador and mayor, Mme Ruth Segomotsi Mompati. As the sport and recreation sector we dip our banners and salute this gallant fighter for her selfless contribution towards our democracy. As we do so, we remember also those from our own ranks of sport, who left us in recent times. We remember our recipient of the Steve Tshwete Lifetime Achievement Award and the Order of Ikhamanga in Gold, Dr Steve Kalamazoo Mokone. We remember also Joel Magolego, Senzo Meyiwa, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, Phindile Mwelase, Tinus Linee, Shakes ‘Kasi Flavour’ Kungoane, John `Shoes’ Moshoeu and many others.
On the other hand, we also meet at a time when love and peace is in the air as the football nation still celebrates the league title of Amakhosi amahle. Congratulations Abafana bokuthula noxolo! Congratulations also to one of Mzansi’s most decorated and prolific defenders and Kaizer Chiefs Captain, Tefu Mashamaite, for the multiple categories he won at the PSL awards. TefuMashamaite, you are truly a well-rounded footballer, a disciplined leader, and a role model to the multitudes of our young people out there!
We recognise and appreciate also the outstanding achievement of our cricket captain and the world’s best batsman AB de Villiers. We are inspired by the ever-improving performance of our athletes as they smash record after record in local and international competition. The recent performance of Anaso Jobodwana who broke South Africa’s 200m record, the performance of Steven Mokoka who broke South Africa’s 5000m record and the performance of Annemie Smith who improved her own South African record in women’s hammer throw is testimony to the fact that our preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympics are well on track!
As we set the scene and prepare to host the 10th edition of the South African Sport Awards, we are proud that we do so in the year when the reigning Sport Star of the Year is a woman - the prolific striker of Banyana Banyana, Portia Modise. Following an impeccable international career punctuated by unparalleled accomplishments, Portia has now announced her retirement. We congratulate her and reassure her of our continued support as our Sport Star! She has served us all and has served us well. [Applause.]
More than 113 caps and 100 goals is not child’s play. It is testimony of the ultimate sacrifice and supreme dedication to national pride this is patriotism par excellence!
In this year, G-Sport Awards will also be celebrating its 10thanniversary. Over the years, G-Sport has dedicated itself to raise the profile of South African women in sport and, most importantly, to encourage corporate South Africa to back female athletes.
In his state of the nation address President Zuma urged all South Africans to rally behind our national teams. We would like to echo these words by the President and implore all South Africans to wear their national or team colours and to root for and support our national teams in the sports battlefield as they compete in the different international competitions.
Team South Africa will participate in the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo from 4 to 19 September 2015. The Proteas netball team,whose members are here as our guests, will participate in the Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia in August from 7 to 16 August 2015. We say bathatheni mantombazana! [Take them, girls.] Wathinta abafazi wathint’ imbokodo uzakufa – finish and klaar. [Done and dusted!]
The Springboks will participate in the International Rugby Board World Cup that takes place in England from 18 September to 31 October 2015. The Springboks have won us accolades before. They are also with us today in the gallery as our guests. We say to them...
... gaan mos en maak hulle lekker daar by die World Cup. [Go forth indeed and beat them all in the World Cup.]
[Applause.] We say: Go, boys, and represent South Africa. Forward ever, backward never! Go Bokke! [Applause.]
We take this opportunity to also say ``Good luck’’ to all the runners who will be taking part in the 90th Comrades Marathon on 31 May. To all the 23 000 participants, we say: You have trained hard to make it to that starting line. Whether you arrive at 11 am or 5pm at Pietermaritzburg, enjoy the race and cross that finish line with pride! [Applause.]
Emanating from our engagements with the public broadcaster, we have now ensured that boxing returns to our television screens and radio. Boxing is a popular sport with a deep-rooted history, a history of triumph over adversity and a heritage that South Africa is proud of. The key idea in the delivery of boxing is to recognise amateur, professional and development boxing across both genders. The first tournament will be broadcasted on SABC 1 at the beginning of June 2015. This initiative will strengthen our boxing turnaround strategy due to increased visibility that will safeguard the return of the sponsors to the sport.
Further to our support for the sport of boxing, we have also set aside R10 million towards the development of amateur boxing this year. We will also sign a working relationship with the SA National Defence Force to implement what we call Operation Victory Lap. As a result, the SA National Boxing Organisation, Sanabo, will receive a once-off allocation as part of being chosen as the Federation of the Year. This move will assist to unearth talent that will increase the pool of young boxers who can represent the country at international competitions.
Our support towards the development of basketball and netball in South Africa is yielding serious results. The Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League and the Basketball National League are growing in stature. Our wish is to see these leagues attracting more support so that, one day, the athletes participating in them can be full-time professionals.
Transformation in sport remains an emotive issue to which many people have attached various interpretations. Imposing quotas was seen as a way to speed-up the process but this has clearly not worked on a sustainable basis. Change has to take place from the ground up and that means it has to start at school and club level. We need to pay particular attention to issues of equity, equality, excellence, access, organisational culture and good corporate governance. The thread that remains integrally linked to all this is development. There can be no transformation without development. It is for that reason that our thematic approach to this budget statement is transformation and development.
In line with the national Sport and Recreation Plan, a pilot transformation audit was conducted on the big five national federations, namely, rugby, cricket, football, netball and athletics, and the results were published in 2014. Following this successful pilot, further national federations were subjected to a transformation review to monitor progress and another transformation barometer was published in March 2015, detailing the findings of this review. The federations that were assessed include all those that are identified as the school sport priority federations. This is to ensure that, as financial assistance is directed at them, they also reciprocate.
Because of the importance of transformation for the future of South African sport, this is an area in which we dare not fail. Internal capacity will be empowered during 2015 to assist national federations to implement the charter and to accurately complete the scorecard. Federations and sports bodies that fail to meet defined and stated targets will be namedand shamed, and encouraged to meet these targets. We believe federations should have a key focus on school sport as a starting point towards the long journey of sustainable and transformed sporting codes.
Chairperson, we present this budget statement with renewed vigour and verve! This is because we do so against the backdrop of a clean audit finding expressed by the Auditor-General on our 2013-14 Annual Report. To properly elucidate this point and contextualise our upbeat, we borrow an extract from an article of 20 September 2012 by the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Many people are familiar with the terms ``qualified’’ and ``unqualified’’ opinions on audit. These refer to an opinion expressed by auditors on the financial statements of entities. Unlike private sector audits, the AGSAs audit scope is much broader. Besides the audit of financial statements, it also covers reporting of performance against predetermined objectives as well as compliance with laws and regulations. In the South African public sector audit context, an entity needs to be unqualified in all the audit areas mentioned above in order to obtain a ``clean audit’’.
In this context, the overall overarching understanding by the South African government and the office of the Auditor-General of South Africa, a clean audit means an unqualified audit opinion with no matters of emphasis. This is what this department has achieved. [Applause.]
School sport remains our only viable and currently structured mechanism through which to truly address issues of development in sport. To that end, we are committed to maximise access to sport, recreation and physical activity in every school in South Africa. The third edition of the South African School Sport National Championship staged on 10 to 15 December 2014 saw participants from provincial school teams taking part in 14 different sporting codes, including learners with disabilities. This national championship has increased opportunities for learners from all schools to participate in an integrated national multi-coded sport event.
More than 11 205 participants took part in the 14 sporting codes which formed part of this national championship. Most of these learners are from previously disadvantaged communities where they had very little or no opportunities to participate in sport.Of course, the success of our school sport programme requires well-oiled, motivated and capacitated machinery.
By the end of 2014-15, we had trained 2 770 educators throughout the provinces, utilising the mass participation conditional grant. These educators, together with the 254 school sport co-ordinators we have employed through the conditional grant allocation, will serve as force multipliers for school sport implementation. A total of 726 schools have also been allocated sport equipment and attire as part of our rolling intervention to capacitate a specific number of schools on an annual basis.
As part of the many exit opportunities from the School Sport programme, the Ministerial Sports Bursary is provided to selected learners from Grade 8 until they complete their high school education. New recruits were identified during the 2014 South African School Sport National Championship to join those already on the programme. At the moment the department has already exceeded its target of 40 athletes supported each year at an amount of up to R100 000 per learner.
We will also partner with the SA Sports Confederation andOlympic Committee, Sascoc, on the rollout of the talent tracking system and ensure that the athletes who succeed at a national competition level are supported to develop into elite athletes. As Sascoc is the implementation agency in this area, the role of government is to ensure that systems are in place from a district to a provincial level to ensure a flow of talent to the national level. Siyaqhuba. [We are moving forward.] [Applause.]
A network of club structures integrated into provincial and national sport structures spanning urban and rural areas across the country forms the basis of sports provision in any sport system. There can be no viable and accessible community sport without well-run and accessible club systems. In the previous financial year, we piloted the new club franchise model in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.
Through the club development allocation of the mass participation grant, over 578 clubs received support in the form of equipment and attire, while more than 106 clubs received support in terms of staging tournaments and leagues. Over 3 410 individuals from different sporting codes were trained on club development in sport-specific areas, such as technical officiating, administration and coaching. In this financial year we shall continue to consolidate this process and use the new club system as a change agent for transformation and development.
Through our various sport promotion campaigns and events that were implemented in the 2014-15 financial year, more than 30 000 had access to sport and recreation. In this financial year, we have set aside R54,3million to consolidate and strengthen our key community sport programmes like youth camps, the Big Walk, Golden Games, and the Andrew Mlangeni Golf Development Programme.
Working with SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, Sascoc, the Free State provincial government and through contributions from all provincial departments of sport and recreation, we have set aside an amount of R26 million per annum over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period to strengthen the National Training Centre based in the Free State Sport Science Institute. This National Training Centre is an Olympic preparatory centre for team South Africa and one of the three components of the national academy system for elite and high-performance sport. It prepares national teams and athletes with regard to scientific, medical and sport-specific support. Once finalised, the NationalTraining Centre will be a major game changer in our elite athletes support interventions.
Vision 2030, as articulated in the national Sport and Recreation Plan, places responsibility on South African athletes and sports administrators to strive for excellence at all ethical costs and attain dominance and supremacy at whatever platforms they perform and compete at. To complement these pockets of excellence and stimulate a culture of optimum achievement, the department will still continue with its various recognition and reward programmes. Key among these will be the introduction of the Sport Hall of Fame and Museum, which we have already committed to open in this current financial year. This year will further witness a special edition of the SA Sport Awards as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of this programme and retrace the impact which this programme has had over the years.
In the Sport Support ... Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Ms B N DLULANE
|
The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION
Ms B N DLULANE: Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Minister, hon members of the sport and recreation committee, hon Members of Parliament, MECs, director-general, members of the sport fraternity and distinguished guests, last year, on 17 July, during the same Budget Vote debate, I stood here in front of you, and started two sad opening remarks. Firstly, it was the condolences on the loss of Mrs Ntwanambi, a leader of the ANC Women’s League. Secondly, it was the expression of our deepest sympathy to the players and management of the Sedibeng netball team who were involved in an accident, if you still recall.
This year proved to be a continuation of the sad news because we lost a great figure in our political movement and a veteran, Mama Ruth Mompati. May her soul repose peacefully. We also lost significant figures on the sports front such as the likes of Steve Kalamazoo Mokone, John ``Shoes’’ Moshoeu, Senzo Meyiwa and Richard Henyekane.
Kalamazoo moved to Europe at a time when it was unheard of in South Africa or even for a sub-Saharan football player to do so. Kalamazoo Mokone’s death in hospital in the USA, thousands of kilometres from his birthplace, Doornfontein, Gauteng, was made more emotional by his wish to have his ashes brought back and scattered over a football ground in South Africa.
I mention all of them because before the young Mokone sought shelter outside our borders, boarded a plane for cold, grey and post-war England in 1955, he was approached by prominent ANC figures Willy Nkomo and Peter Tsele who told him that every goal he scored would be a step closer to his people’s liberation.
Hon Minister, yes, we all know that the sport movement adopted the National Sport and Recreation Plan at the indaba hosted by you in January 2012, which is an unfunded mandate. By the way, people did not only endorse the sport plan that you presented, but also endorsed you as the executive authority whom they trusted to implement the plans which they adopted. They have done so because they could see that you always get clean audits, as you did even in this financial year.[Applause.] Congratulations on that, Jola.
We know that national sport is an unfunded mandate. We are equally aware that the National Sport and Recreation Plan requires a budget of R15 billion for it to be implemented fully. National Treasury has committed only R3 billion in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, MTBPS, towards the implementation of this plan. With the minimum resources that have been allocated towards the National Sport and Recreation Plan, NSRP, the Department of Sport and Recreation has been able to implement 42% of the targets contained in the NSRP.
Uyaqhuba, Mphathiswa. [You are moving ahead, Minister.]
What you presented here this afternoon is, of course, within the sport plan. If we are to succeed in making sport and recreation accessible to all our people, it is important that we remain diligent alongside you to give effect to the three core pillars identified at the time as central in the implementation of the sport plan. As we all know, these three pillars remain building an active nation, struggling towards being a winning nation and creating an enabling environment.
Masiqhube, Mphathiswa. [Let us move ahead, Minister.]
Compatriots, you will all recall that as a result of the 52nd national conference of the ANC in November 2011, both the Department of Sport and Recreation and the Department of Basic Education signed a memorandum of understanding to have sport back in school. We are pleading that we must look into that and it must be implemented by both these departments. The memorandum of understanding is the cardinal pillar of the National Sport and Recreation Plan. The scope and the framework of this memorandum of understanding are structured in a way that it applies to all schools, both rural and urban. Listen ... both rural and urban. This is serious progress indeed.
However, I have noted that the rural schools’ sports league is proving to be a serious challenge, particularly with regard to the transportation of players from point A to point B. We ask the departments of Education and Transport to please assist our department. There are still some challenges that the provincial governments are experiencing in realising and implementing school sport in some parts, let alone the provision of home support.
The portfolio committee adopted a deliberate resolution to be biased towards the rural areas as per the stipulation of the 8 January 2013-15 statement of the ANC. As a result of the adoption of that statement, we have our hands on deck to implement the rural development of sport. The greatest need for facilities and sport activities is arguably in the rural areas of our country. The child in the rural areas must have and be given equal opportunities like the urban child in our townships and suburbs.
It is my belief that when it comes to the provision of facilities for sport we must be biased in favour of rural communities. However, government alone cannot provide these facilities. The private sector has a responsibility and duty to join government in the provision of such facilities. Recently, I had the honour of officially opening a sports court on behalf of the Minister and the committee in the rural community of Mbizana in the Eastern Cape where business joined hands with government in building an outdoor sports court. [Applause.]
Siyaqhuba. [We are moving ahead.]
This facility, available to a cluster of eight schools, is the result of a partnership between SuperSport, the Sports Trust and the government.
Siyanibulela. Amaqobokazana angalala emzini kunyembelekile. [We thank you. Well done!]
The children of Mbizana are now the proud owners of this sports facility. Also, the kids doing sporting codes, starting from Grade 1-12, were given sporting kits.
Siyabulela. [We thank you.]
We need much more of these types of facilities so that our people can access sports and recreation opportunities. Our department is trying its best, but we need more of this in rural communities in order to develop the talented young cohort.
My challenge today goes to the business community to show that they care about South Africa as a whole by reaching out to communities through sponsorships.
Siyankqonkqoza ke mawethu boosomashishini abasakhulayo namashishini amakhulu. Mhlawumbi eli gama lithi oongxowa lingena kabuhlungu, masithi oosomashishini. [We are knocking on the door of small businesses and big businesses. Perhaps the word ``capitalist’’ does not sit well, so let us the word ``businesses’’.]
Hon Minister, we are pleased to have leaders of your calibre who allow us to go all out in heeding the clarion calls or assisting our rural schools and clubs.
Uyinxalenye yethu ke nawe, Mlawuli Jikelele. Sithetha nje izikolo ezimalunga ne-14 ngaphandle kwezi zisibhozo zaseMbizana zizuzile kwimpahla yezemidlalo. Sibulela i-South African Rugby Union, Saru, ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[You are also part of us, Director-General. As we speak, about 14 schools, excluding the 8 from Mbizana, have received sporting kits. We thank the SA Rugby Union, Saru, ...]
... for assisting us as a committee when we had a cry from Limpopo during our oversight visit. They also received kits for their local clubs, for both women and men. [Applause.]
Sifuna ukuzibona zisenzeka ezi zinto. [We want to see these things happening.]
We are also looking forward to Saru fulfilling its promise of building a library there. When we were together with them, they promised to build it.
Yiyo ke le nto ngamanye amaxesha iSaru ... [That is why sometimes ...]
... when we are criticising them about transformation that is very slow, we do express appreciation for what you are doing. Together we can do more.
This committee is reputed for questioning transformation, especially after 21 years, such that some of the entities do not like this criticism.
Kuza kude kuvalwe! Siselapha nje kwakude kuvalwe sisathetha ngale nto yenguqu. [As long as we are still here, we are always going to talk about transformation.]
We are going to criticise constructively, seeking assistance for our communities as we are doing. We do this knowing very well that transformation is the morally right thing to do, and a strategic imperative. [Applause.]
The 2014 Eminent Persons Group report observed that the implementation of an effective transformation initiative will require a complete change in how sport governance structures work, their functions and how they are structured. This implies that we can never rest when we find the old practices still being applied and there is resistance to change. We told the rugby leadership that transformation ...
... kumbhoxo ibetha ngonyawo lonwabu kwaye oomama, ulutsha, abantu abakhubazekileyo banqabile. Siyabagxeka ke ngaloo nto. Apha ngasentla bendibancomile. Masigxeke sibuye sincome. Sibaxelele kwakhona ukuba le nguqu siyifunayo mabasincedise ngokuthi bayenze, nathi siza kubancedisa. Noko iminyaka engama-21 ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... in rugby is happening at a snail’s pace and women. youth and people with disabilities are a rare sight. We criticise them on that account. Here above I commended them. Let us criticise them and then give them their due. We also told them that we are going to help them achieve the transformation we require.I mean, after 21 years, ...]
... as South Africans, we don’t deserve what they are doing. It is slow-paced. We are also saying transformation must not only be a black and white issue, but it must be qualitatively driven.
Ngale ndlela kungayo, ndiyazi, Mphathiswa, zange baphatheke kakuhle nangezinye iindlela abagxekwa ngazo. Masizilungise ukuze singagxekwa kakhulu, ...[As things stand, Minister, I know that the way they were criticised did not sit well with them. Let us fix things so that we do not get criticised unduly, ...]
... like they have done in Limpopo, as was picked up during the oversight done by the committee.
Masimothulele umnqwazi lo Mphathiswa weli sebe kuba sesibuya kunceda ngenxa yakho. [Hats off to the Minister, because we have just come back from giving assistance, owing to him.]
Boxing South Africa must get their house in order and go back to the market. You know, Minister, your pronouncement made me change the speech that I had written then about boxing being assisted. However, Boxing SA must get its house in order and go back to the market to generate revenue streams as well. But, Minister, you can’t take your kids to the street. What you have done by taking Boxing South Africa to your office, means that they must be serious and try to get savings.
Awusoze ugxothe abantwana bakho ubacholile esitalatweni. [You cannot chase away your children that you picked up on the streets.]
Keep it up.
Nakwabanye wenze njalo. [Kwaqhwatywa.] [Do the same unto others as well. [Applause.]]
I have a specific request with regard to female boxers - they should also be supported and get opportunities to fight. Boxers must be paid on time. They must not waive their rights to promoters and come back to politicians when things do not go their way.
Inene, yinkathazo le. Xa sihleli apha kule komiti sifumana ileta ekuseni, emini nasemalanga, kodwa banelungelo labo lokuba babhatalwe. Xa kumnandi kubo becinga ukuba benza into elungileyo bancama ilungelo labo. Ndimvile ke uMphathiswa esithi ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Indeed, this is trouble. When we sit on this committee we receive letters left, right, and centre, but they have a right to be paid. When they are having it nice and think that they are doing the right thing, they waive their rights. I heard the Minister say that ...]
... there is something in the pipeline to mend the situation.
Mayikhawuleze! Mayikhawuleze loo nto ngoba abafumani nto. Ngamanye amaxesha sibangcwaba bengamahlwempu ngoba kaloku bathatha izigqibo zokuncama izinto abafanele ukuba bayazifumana. [Speed it up! Speed it up because boxers are suffering. Sometimes we bury them as paupers because they take a decision to waive their right to benefits.]
Here in the Western Cape, there is a SA Bantamweight female champ, Sharrodene Fortuin, from Strand.
Ulapha mama. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Andazi nokuba kuyacelwa kuwe kusini na ukuba umntu makasukume. [Uwele-wele.] Kulungile. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[The lady is here. [Applause.] I do not know whether one can ask you to allow her to stand up so that people can see her. [Interjections.] It is all right.]
Minister, this problem of Salga that we’ve discussed is in our heart as the committee. You said your piece about the reinforcement of 15%. Sometimes MECs in the provincial departments misdirect the 15% in order that infrastructure is not allocated.
Yesterday Cricket SA was with us and we were happy about your presentation. In terms of transformation, you are getting there. We are saying keep it up. However, you are not there yet. You presented your programme to the whole committee three weeks ago and even yesterday.
Qhubani. Siyabulela.
Siyayixhasa iVoti yoHlahlo-lwabiwo-mali lweli sebe siyi-ANC. [Kwaphela ixesha.] [Kwaqhwatywa.]
[Move ahead. We thank you.
As the ANC we support the department’s Budget Vote. [Time expired.][Applause.]]
Mr D BERGMAN
Ms B N DLULANE
|
Mr D BERGMAN: Madam Chair, Nelson Mandela once said that:
Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where there was once only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.
Twenty-one years down the line we are still looking at plans for transformation in sports. We have seen from the strategies of Cricket South Africa and the SA Rugby Union that they are resorting to quotas. Whilst I believe transformation is important and vital to the future of our sports in this country, I cannot agree with the intervention of a one-size-fits-all quota approach. We are creating two classes of players, and it is counter-productive in trying to bring people into sports, generate income for the sports and be a world-class team.
Vernon Philander is a player that should never have been associated with the word ``quota’’. He is a world-class player and an asset to our country, yet comes a loss at the World Cup, and speculation arises that puts an unfair and unfortunate spotlight on a player that deserves our appreciation. Omphile Ramela, a young promising opening batsman, was featured in one of the local publications and one of his own concerns is that he may not be recognised for his talent but rather his colour. This is not what sports is about.
We must not forget what the past did to create barriers and inequality in sports but we need to look at some of the other criteria that continue to hamper the progress of transformation and participation across all sporting codes. It is heartbreaking to see schools and community centres that have the remains of what used to be tennis or netball courts. We have eroded multipurpose courts where kids sustain more injury than pleasure. Funds are often the excuse but are they the reason?
Active nation is the most expensive part of our budget, and rightfully so as the most important aspect. We hold this Ministry to account for getting as many people as possible involved in some form of activity or another. However, this requires more than just our committee, as Basic Education has just as big a part to play in making this a success. Schools should be responsible for ensuring participation and we should be responsible for ensuring a satisfactory suite of coaches, skills and local competition.
National schools championships should be just as important to us as the importance we seem to place on the Commonwealth Games. There are schools that have and there are schools that have not. It was mentioned to us in a meeting that if you take a helicopter ride around a city and fly over schools, you will tell a rugby school from the fact that the school has glass in their windows, school transport and a playing field. You will then be able to recognise soccer schools by flying over schools that have no glass in their windows, no vehicles and no playing fields.
Two decades down the line, this is not a good story to tell. We need to even the playing fields and we need to start with the foundation phase. It is no use just fiddling at the top and running the risk of ruining players, teams, careers and codes. We need to ensure that this budget delivers to the communities and we need to hold the SA Local Government Association and municipalities to account when it does not. We need to nurture the process from school and community level through to club level and up till professional participation. This is the only way that we will grow interest, grow talent and grow our competitiveness.
Our country is looking for a committee that can lead by example - a committee that can sow hope, reconcile nations, redress the injustices of the past and deliver on its mandate. We dare not fail! [Applause.]
Mr M S MBATHA
|
Mr D BERGMAN
Mr M S MBATHA: Hon House Chair, our distinguished guests and our fighters at home, many years ago in 1988 the National Sports Congress assembled at the Great Hall in WitsUniversity. It chartered a way forward for a South Africa of a future, a South Africa where there was going to be one sport, one federation, one community and one nation. Today, 21 years into our democracy we have the sports and recreation budget estimated at R988,5 million. This is one of the departments that were founded in the initial phases of our democracy. You will understand that with the growth that is always projected with departments and the vigour to deliver to communities, you would assume that from 1994 the budget of Sports and Recreation today would have been something else.
It would have been something else to a young person in South Africa who only knew a very few things about democracy, who only knew a few things about the liberation movement and the liberation struggle. This young person would have benefited through his dreams should this government increase the budget to attract and advance the development of our people. Today it is said that the majority of the budget goes to the Active Nation programme. In as much as we would love to agree, the reality is as follows: There is a great divide between a rural and an urban young person. That definition calls for so many things that are unjust and that resemble apartheid. The majority of our young people today cannot distinguish their suffering from that endured by their parents.
You have, as it exists today, sports federations who are a law unto themselves. You, Minister, have to entertain racism in sport. You still have to entertain the use of facilities generally even though some of them are public, but are used by what is called private academies which deliberately continue to discriminate. Our take is that the solution should be as follows: It should have been - even from the beginning - that we at least take development to the lowest echelons of our municipalities. We should have provided facilities of excellence in our districts to attract fairness and to justify why black youth have to go back to professional sports in their numbers. Because this did not happen, the black youth and black young women in particular have become casualties of what you would call a sorry state of affairs in their respective sporting codes.
Today we still say that they are nowhere to be found. Who would have brought them where? We should have done it ourselves. Today, if you look at what is happening around the country, the sport is not well supported. The EFF rejects this budget. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Order! Order, hon members! [Interjections.] I am going to name names now if members are not disciplined.
Mr K P SITHOLE
Mr M S MBATHA
|
Mr K P SITHOLE: Honourable Speaker, as the IFP, we support this budget mostly because we want to see the development of sports academies, sports development in rural areas, townships and especially in schools countrywide. [Applause.]
On the face of it, the Department of Sports and Recreation seems to project success, with our athletes involved in major sporting events at home and around the world. However, many elements of our local sporting scene require urgent attention if we are to truly build a nation of athletes who can compete with the best in the world.
Enhancing effective participation in sport is one of the driving factors of the department, specifically based on the National Sport and Recreation Plan. In order to get communities to fully embrace this vision, multipurpose sports facilities are needed and it is encouraging that the department has allocated funds for this. However, when these funds are not allocated properly due to corrupt practices, it means sports development does not take place and young athletes are deprived of opportunities to thrive.
Decisive measures need to be taken to curb this, and measurable results need to be documented and communicated in order to show our people that development is truly taking place and the impact of corruption is reduced. The delay in providing facilities also means that, in schools that do not have them, learners are deprived of access to sports recreation, and physical activity is nonexistent.
The recent appointment of Danny Jordaan as mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality requires a bold decision from the Minister to remove him as president of the SA Football Association, if he does not take the decision to resign himself. Jordaan’s move into the political arena does not bode well for soccer and he must not be allowed to continue to lead it.
The lack of transformation is especially concerning and the Minister needs to explain this. Just because we have a black player in a predominantly white team does not signify transformation. It must be seen happening even off the fields. There is a great need for transformation to take place specifically with regard to officials overseeing sports federations because transformation begins with the leadership structures. The Minister cannot claim success if he has failed to bring about transformation in how sports are being governed.
Ngqongqoshe, ushela intombi ikuqome ize ibuye ikwale ungakaboni ukuthi isikuqomile. [Minister, your house is not in order.]
One would think that the photograph that the hon Minister took with boxing champion Floyd Mayweather before his most recent fight signifies that boxing in South Africa is flourishing. But this is far from the case. Boxing as a sport continues to decline because, over the years, support has decreased and even sponsorship is nonexistent. It would have been better for the Minister to rather focus his attention on how boxing administration and marketing can be improved and how to help this very popular sport to receive the proper support within communities. Unlike rugby and cricket, the higher one goes with boxing, the more limited the opportunities to excel in it... [Time expired.]
Ms L L VAN DER MERWE: House Chairperson, can I address you please?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Yes.
Ms L L VAN DER MERWE: It is awfully hot in here and I am rising to ask you to please ask them to switch on the air conditioner because I do not want members to be caught napping later. It is really hot. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Order, hon members! I know that now it is late afternoon, almost early evening, and so there are possibilities that we may all be tired. Can we allow hon Mabika to proceed.
Mr M S MABIKA
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza)
|
Mr M S MABIKA: Hon Chairperson, members and distinguished guests, hon Minister ...
... i-NFP ifisa ukuqala ngokuhalalisela uDanny Jordaan ngokuqokelwa kwakhe esikhundleni sokuba yiMeya yase-Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. Ngqongqoshe, ngoba wena siyakwethemba ukuthi uyazi ukuthi u-CAF no-FIFA bame kuphi ngendaba yokudokoxa kwezombangazwe. Sizokunxusa ukuthi ululeke uJordaan ukuthi ashiye isikhundla ukuze i-Safa ihlale ingenasici. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[... the NFP would like to start by congratulating Danny Jordaan for being elected to the position of the Mayor for the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. Minister, because we trust that you know where the Confederation of African Football, CAF, and Fifa stand with regard to political interference, we would urge you to advise Jordaan to withdraw from the position so that SA Football Association, Safa, remains flawless.]
The budget presented to us seems to be well balanced, on paper. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Order, hon members. Can we allow the hon Mabika to be heard?
Mr M S MABIKA: If, however, we measure the budget against the stated strategic goals of the department, we sense a measure of over-ambition on the side of the department. The R988,5 million allocated is simply insufficient to meet the demands of achieving these proposed strategic goals. We wonder why this department is undermined like this.
Our first point of concern, although not major, is the 12,6% allocation to administration. This, in our view, is a bit high, considering that the bulk of the money available for the budget is paid out to provinces and federations to spend, and with which the department does not actively have to involve itself.
We do note that, within the allocation to administration, provision is made for a major increase in the proposed expenditure on rental. Whereas the NFP can empathise with the department on not wanting to occupy premises that are a security risk, it is a fact of life in modern-day South Africa that virtually all premises are potentially a security risk, given the violent nature and frequency of crime to which we are all subjected. The motivation for alternative premises based on considerations of inadequate parking space and the premises not being properly located is, to put it mildly, absolutely laughable. We cannot see how such considerations could justify an increased projected expenditure of almost R20 million, when there are so many other priorities which are not being met due to insufficient funding.
We welcome the allocation of 64% of the total budget to the Active Nation programme. This programme includes school and community sport development, and we believe that the emphasis placed on this allocation by the department is well considered.
Our concern, however, remains the monitoring of these funds. We see very little, if any, sport development in our rural areas, where a large proportion of our population and children of school-going age live. We see children and adults playing soccer on dusty, make-shift fields anywhere they can find a patch of ground that is more or less even. We see school premises with no sports facilities – not even rudimentary ones.
So, we are asking: What is happening to the money which the department is allocating to provinces, federations and clubs? More importantly, how does the department monitor these allocations? Why are sports councils not seen to be assisting in club development, especially in rural areas? Sports hubs continue to be rejected.
An oversight visit to Limpopo province revealed, for example, that expensive equipment which had been bought and paid for was gathering dust in offices, and there was no apparent plan to distribute it.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon Mabika, your time has expired.
Mr M S MABIKA: Thank you, Chairperson.
Sesiyazi ukuthi uNgqongqoshe uyawuthanda umdlalo wokubhakelana yingakho sicela ukuthi uthando lwakhe lwesibhakela alubonise ngokuthi enze inguquko la eNingizimu Afrika. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[We now know that the Minister loves boxing. That is why we ask that he shows his love for boxing by creating change in South Africa.]
Thank you.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION
|
Mr M S MABIKA
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Chairperson and Minister of Sport and Recreation, my comrade, Minister Fikile Mbalula, we now know that the EFF is not in support of excellence. They pronounced that today, very clearly. We also know that the IFP is of the opinion that you are so powerful you can just fire a person who is democratically elected president of an international federation.
I think we must agree on one thing, however, and this is that we are unanimous in our call that the budget of our department has to be increased to address the shortages that we have. We cannot talk about transformation, meaningful change, influencing the future of our children and creating an opportunity where the starting line will be the same for all the children in this country if we are not vocal and unequivocally talking about an increase in our budget.
The Minister has already spoken on some of our priorities for the next year. I will focus on some other work of the department.
The Recreation Programme of our department is in keeping with the vision of an active nation. Our Cabinet declared the first Friday of October each year an annual National Recreation Day. Although this is not a public holiday, it provides an opportunity to all South Africans to be actively involved by participating in recreational activities that will improve their health and their wellbeing. A healthy and active citizenry is a key factor in realising the objectives of the National Development Plan, NDP.
To fully exploit the potential of recreation, National Recreation Day needs solidarity, joint activities and cross-sectoral initiatives. To this end, Cabinet also approved the establishment of a national steering committee. This steering committee will put together the concept and programme of action for observing National Recreation Day. Provincial departments across the nine provinces will also have programmes and awareness campaigns for all stakeholders at provincial level.
The 2014 Healthy Active Kids South Africa study, which was conducted by the Medical Research Council at the University of Cape Town, produced a scorecard. The scorecard shows that physical inactivity has been described as a global pandemic, with one in three adults not doing sufficient physical activity to prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes. Globally, physical inactivity accounts for more than 5 million deaths annually.
Obesity has been shown to affect 500 million people worldwide, and is predicted to increase to one billion people by the year 2030. In South Africa, nearly half of all adults are insufficiently active. Keeping in mind that South Africa is home to more than 18,5 million children and youth, these are concerning trends for inactivity and obesity. These patterns mirror global trends and have led to the sobering prediction that the children born since the year 2000 might, for the first time in many generations, have a much shorter life expectancy than their parents.
Beyond the important preventive health impact of physical activity and eating well, there are the more immediate benefits for children and adolescents on cognitive development and academic performance. There is thus an urgent need for government to take the lead in primary prevention of physical inactivity and obesity in children and youth, through effective and supportive policies and programmes.
In the quest to promote life-long participation in sport and recreation and healthy living, special attention will continue to be placed on packaging messages and programmes to make them exuberant, attractive and relevant to the target audience. For this purpose, the new financial year will see innovative and vibrant programmes being brought on board. Renewed energy will be brought to the existing social cohesion campaigns, such as the Unite campaign. Its annual highlight is the Nelson Mandela Sport and Culture Day in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture, which contributes towards a meaningful social cohesion programme in our country. In all our programmes, the needs of people with disabilities will be addressed.
The Big Walk will be staged on the first Sunday of October to encourage participation in physical activity.
Mrs A M DREYER: Madam Chairperson, on a point of order: I am rising to ask if the Minister would tell us what is happening with the Bob van Reenen Stadium in Krugersdorp. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon member, that is not a point of order. You are asking whether the Minister can take a question. Is that what you want? [Interjections.] Hon Minister, can you take a question?
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Hon Chair, if I don’t lose time and she gives me DA time, I’ll give her a comprehensive answer.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): For now, it means no. Proceed, Deputy Minister.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Chairperson, the Big Walk takes place in October to align it with the World Walking Day of the Association for International Sport for All, Tafisa. This body encourages and lobbies countries to walk by creating advocacy and awareness during October. As a member of Tafisa, our country embraces this initiative.
Last week, we hosted and celebrated the World Move for Health Day, as articulated by President Zuma in the 2015 state of the nation address. We did this in partnership with the Department of Health and the Emfuleni Local and Sedibeng District Municipalities. We celebrated with a day’s programme of physical activities, coupled with awareness and health screening. In collaboration with the Department of Health, the Move for Health Day encourages communities to make physical activity a priority by promoting activities as fun. The day provided a focal point to generate public awareness of the benefits of physical activity and the prevention of noncommunicable diseases, assisting us to create a healthy and a very active nation.
I want to touch on club development and community sport. Even though an integrated and sustainable club structure is recognised as a prerequisite for the foundation of the South African sport system, there is no accurate picture of which clubs exist and what their membership status is. Many of the club programmes that were developed are not sustainable. An audit of the pilot programme commenced and the results will be used to guide the roll-out of the programme in the future. It is envisaged that the programme will include conducting an audit of existing clubs.
However, both the development of a club toolkit and the application of a club grading system are already complete. The formulation of a basket of services will be offered to the clubs. This approach would see the clubs concluding formal agreements with the provincial department responsible for sport and recreation. A club franchise agreement has been drafted, should the franchise club model be adopted following the results of the pilot projects we undertake. Two provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, have been earmarked to continue piloting the system on the basis that they are to identify more than 300 clubs in football, netball and athletics.
Through the mass participation grant under club development, 578 clubs received support in terms of equipment and attire; 107 clubs received support in terms of staging tournaments and leagues; and 3 417 individuals from different sporting codes were trained on club development in sport-specific areas, such as technical officiating, administration and coaching. These provinces will need to acquire franchises to ensure sustainability of the supported clubs. Thankfully, Minister, you have guided us so that resources to do this will be made available in the Mass Participation programme and the sport development grant for 2015-16 to achieve this noble objective.
When it comes to community sport, through various sports promotion campaigns and events that were implemented in the last financial year, thousands of people had access to sport and recreation. The main events were the Youth Camps, the Golden Games, the Big Walk, the Andrew Mlangeni Golf Development Day, and the Nelson Mandela Sport & Culture Day. The latter event alone attracted over 22 000 participants in cycling, running, and walking.
With regard to our dedication and contribution to honour former President Mandela, 67 minutes of Mandela events were held in Cullinan, Manenberg, Philippi, and Paarl. The Indigenous Games Festival to celebrate the heritage of our country was, once again, staged in 2014 in all nine provinces.
With regard to the mass participation grant, more than a million people actively participated in terms of sport and recreation hubs, events and programmes arranged by provinces. Through the grant, 293 permanent employment opportunities were created because we used 6% of the total allocation for each province, set aside for the purpose of job creation. A total of 1 756 people who are involved in community sport and hubs were trained. A total of 468 hubs received equipment and attire as an enabler towards improving access to sport and recreation.
In addressing the priority of rural development, our department will support a Rural Sport Improvement programme under the guidance of the National House of Traditional Leaders. One of the vehicles to implement this programme is the Ministerial Outreach programme, which continues to enhance the capacity of sport and recreation clubs through the provision of sports equipment and attire for struggling clubs.
I shift our focus to our vision of a winning nation. We provide scientific support to all our stakeholders. The focus of the athlete residential support initiative will be phased out by the end of 2015, as it has been replaced by the Ministerial Sports Bursary programme. The new approach is focused on setting the agenda for sport in South Africa by supporting the development of our talented learners while they also pursue their education.
A talent identification and development strategy is being implemented in conjunction with a holistic academy system. Scientific support to 40 emerging athletes with the potential to compete at a high-performance level, but who are not yet on the Operation Excellence programme of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, Sascoc, will be provided for. This support will be provided by the National Training Centre in Bloemfontein, as the Minister indicated. That centre prepares national teams and athletes with regard to scientific, medical and sport-specific support.
The SA National Defence Force, the SA Police Service and the Department of Correctional Services will be approached to investigate the possibility of talented athletes being supported by their respective infrastructure. To this end, the Minister alludedto Operation Victory Lap, which will be initiated in partnership with the SA National Defence Force.
Our department will further partner with Sascoc on the roll-out of the talent tracking system to ensure that the athletes who succeed at national competitions are supported to develop into elite athletes. As Sascoc is the implementing agency in this area, our department will ensure that systems are in place from district to provincial level to ensure a flow of talent right up to the national level.
Our country is playing a leading role in projects of global importance, as reflected in our contributions to Unesco, the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport, Cigeps, the United Nations Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group; the International Anti-doping Agreement, Iada, and the World Anti-Doping Association, Wada, amongst others. I am also happy to report that mainly due to the major contributions from our country, South Africa was re-elected as Chair of the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group as well as Chair of the Executive Board of Sport for Development and Peace.
The input from our country also resulted in the development of government policies regarding the harnessing of sport to address gender-based violence for consideration by the United Nations. South Africa also played a major role in the revision of the Unesco International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport. This charter puts physical education, physical activity and sport at the service of human development.
In another positive development, our country has been selected to serve as a pilot country for an innovative physical education programme of Unesco. Under the banner, ``Getting the couch potatoes off the couch’’, Quality Physical Education guidelines were developed. The guidelines provide a framework to help policy-makers reshape physical education policy as well as practical advice for implementing the various guidelines.
The ever-expanding complexity of doping in sport, like the manufacturing, the importation, and the distribution of doping products, requires both new capacities and commitments for both governments and national antidoping agencies. Our country plans to appeal to Unesco to announce an International Year of Anti-Doping during 2016, to coincide with the hosting of the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In our efforts to promote an ethical environment and to protect the integrity of our sport system, our department will continue to financially support the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport, SAIDS, to ensure that compliance to the World Anti-Doping Agency code is adhered to. Particular attention will be given to ensure that SAIDS delivers on its responsibility towards Wada and to co-ordinate the responsibility of SAIDS towards the Central Drug Authority.
We will engage and ensure that the National Lotteries Board will align all its allocations for sport and recreation to the demands of our National Sport and Recreation Plan. We are steadfast that we want an equal share of the allocation for sport and recreation and we are not favourably inclined towards always receiving the mouse’s share of that allocation.
In an effort to further recognise our sporting greats, collaborative agreements will continue in the 2015-16 financial year, with a view to establishing a national Sport Hall of Fame, as the Minister announced. The recognition systems serve to implement the annual SA Sports Awards, the Andrew Mlangeni Green Jackets and Ministerial Outstanding Sports Performance Accolades programme.
Hon members, we have a long and winding road ahead to traverse. We are comfortable that our plans and budgets are aligned to the National Development Plan. With our National Sport and Recreation Plan steering us as a sector, we will not be side-tracked from our Vision 2030, as articulated by our Minister. We still have considerable work to do to achieve greater support from our corporate sector. We trust that, together with their support, we can make South Africa an active and winning nation, and a shining example to the rest of the world.
In conclusion, we must use the immense value of sport and recreation to promote social cohesion across society through increased interaction. We are, in fact, unapologetic in our drive to promote the inclusion of marginalised groups, of women and youth at risk, of rural communities and people with disabilities. In short, we must address the imbalances of the past and work towards an environment where the starting line will be the same for all the children in our country. I trust that after 21 years of democracy in this wonderful country of ours, we will have unanimous support for this policy directive.
I end off by thanking the Minister of Sport and Recreation for his guidance, camaraderie and friendship. Minister, thank you for always being available to listen and to guide, and from never shying away from saying what you want to say.
To the director-general and the personnel in the department, thank you so much for steering and supporting us. Without you, we can’t do it. It only demonstrates that, working together, we do more. Amandla! [Applause.]
Mr M L W FILTANE
|
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION
Mr M L W FILTANE: Hon Chair, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister and hon members as well as our honoured guests in the gallery, the UDM dedicates its support for this budget particularly to Siya Kolisi, the Western Cape and Springbok flank, as well as to all the South African gladiators. We support the budget. [Applause.]
Sport and partisan politics have always been uncomfortable with each other in South Africa since the old days of Peter Hein in apartheid times. A careful balancing act has to be found by either party in order for equilibrium to be struck. Between the two there are gladiators, spectators, administrators and sponsors, either potential or actual, because each party is in it for its own selfish purposes. It then becomes necessary that there should be absolute cooperation, otherwise the game suffers.
Parliament has to play its oversight role. This is why it is absolutely necessary for our hon Minister to be quite regular in attending our committee meetings.
On the issue of transformation, for this important programme to be effective, it is necessary that all parties should understand its purpose, politically, socially and economically.
While some of the codes are doing well in this regard, others are lagging behind. Of the major codes, Cricket South Africa appears to be
|
dragging itself into this fold. Its transformation targets reflect an institution that is neither poised nor paced for transformation soon. It lacks all the necessary specifics like current status, programmes and dates of achievement. This is just not cricket, but a displaced straight ball.
SA Rugby has demonstrated its commitment to the committee, although there is still a long way to go to 2019. We hope nothing will be kicked-out into touch before we reach the try line. South Africa needs to reach a stage of development where some people stop thinking that the inclusion of players of colour automatically translates to poor performance.
Codes need to have strong development programmes that will enable transformation to take place not on a quota basis but on capacity. This is where Parliament has to play its oversight role effectively. Often the social elements, so necessary for national social cohesion, are left out of the equation in pursuit of winning. Sponsors of various codes need to demonstrate an appetite for transformation so that when they say that they can give you million of rands, there should be an element of transformation.
During the apartheid years, it did not matter whether teams lost or won, as long as they were pure white. This has to change. Amongst other important pillars of a successful sporting nation is appropriate sport infrastructure. This requires that we ensure appropriateness of our sporting facilities with serious commitment from local government, Public Works as well as co-operation with all other relevant departments like Basic Education. Sports federations and the Departments of Sport and Recreation and of Basic Education have a serious responsibility to develop human capital.
National government and other agencies continue to budget and transfer money to municipalities for rolling out sport infrastructure. We call on the Minister to apply regular monitoring of the use of these resources so that they are able to achieve their intended purpose.
Lastly, provinces have not being doing well in this regard in the recent past, hon Minister. They have been failing to spend all the money allocated to them. This is not on. It has to be tackled head-on so that we can change the situation for the better. I thank you.
Ms D P MANANA
|
Mr M L W FILTANE
Ms D P MANANA: Sihlalo Lohloniphekile, Ndvuna Lehloniphekile yeTemidlalo Nekukhibika Fikile Mbalula, Lisekelandvuna Lelihloniphekile letemidlalo nekukhibika, Gert Oosthuizen, Umcondzisi Jikelele wetemidlalo nekukhibika, Alec Moemi kanye netisebenti tetemidlalo nekukhibika, baphatsiswa labakhona, natotonkhe tivakashi letikhona, ngiyanivusela bekunene. (Translation of Siswati paragraph follows.)
[Ms D P MANANA: Hon Chair, hon Minister of Sport and Recreation South Africa, Fikile Mbalula; hon Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation South Africa, Gert Oosthuizen; Director-General of Sport and Recreation South Africa, Alec Moemi, and the employees of Sport and Recreation South Africa, Ministers present, all guests present, I salute you, ladies and gentlemen.]
I rise on this occasion on behalf of the national liberation movement, which is the ANC, to support this Budget Vote on Sport and Recreation. This Budget Vote will allocate money to programmes that advance social cohesion and nation-building.
Once upon a time in this very same precinct of ours, there was a Prime Minister by the name of Hendrik Verwoerd. He comes across as a role model to the current members of some opposition parties. This is a man whose legacy we are struggling to remove. By his own confession and instead of opting for integration, he opted for what he called separate development. His fear was that integration meant swamping, and thus the extinction of the Afrikaner ‘volk’ or nation. He convinced the nationalists that the policy of apartheid was ethical ... [Interjections.] ... and not based on naked racism.
The breakthrough for him was being able to convince some Afrikaner academics of the House, some academic institutions and some ... [Interjections.] ... federations which appear to be suffering from Verwoerd hangover today. [Interjections.]
Sport has undoubtedly been demonstrated to be one of the most significant cohesive factors in uniting the entire nation. Furthermore, sport is a significant part of any nation’s culture, leisure time, health, economy and education. When integrated into the broader framework of development, sport constitutes an important tool for advancing sustainable development in different sectors of the South African society. Sport not only teaches discipline but it is an integral component of a healthy lifestyle and enables South Africans to share common spaces, develop common loyalties and values.
South African sport was systematically segregated and underdeveloped. The transformation vision for sport in 2030, as articulated in the National Development Plan, NDP, is that participation in each sporting code begins to approximate the demographics of the country for the transformation vision for sport to be realised. The government must ensure that there are adequate facilities for the majority of the population to play sport and that they are equally maintained.
The 2013-14 financial year saw a greater sense of urgency and proactive co-ordinated engagement with regards to transformation of South African sport and this continued during the 2014-15 financial year. It’s well expected to continue in the 2015-16 financial year.
At the heart of the National Sport and Recreation Plan, NSRP, there is a transformation charter and scorecard that is intended to bring about the establishment of a competitive and demographically representative sport system. The completion and representation of the pilot calculation of the transformation status of five selected sports codes was an important milestone and stepping stone for sport transformation.
The preliminary multidimensional assessment went beyond the traditional focus on racial representivity in our national teams to include other critical variables such as gender, access to infrastructure and participation opportunities, governance practise, employment equity and leadership diversity, and preferential procurement as well as the demographic profile of coaches and referees in these codes.
Because of the importance of the transformation for the future of South African sport, it is imperative that Sport and Recreation South Africa, SRSA, delivers on this focus area. Internal capacity must be empowered during the 2015-16 financial year to assist federations, to implement the charter and to accurately complete the scorecard following the successful pilot transformation audit.
A further 16 national federations were subjected to a transformation review to monitor progress in this regard and another transformation barometer will be published detailing the findings of the review. The Eminent Person Group, EPG, will name, blame and shame federations and the sports bodies that failed to meet the defined and stated targets.
To encourage transformation in sport, the department will invest substantially, in the 2015-16 financial year, in the sport support programme for sport and recreation bodies that meet transformation targets.
Sihlalo Lohloniphekile, kute kuphumelele injongo ya-80% yetinhlangano tetemidlalo tavelonkhe, kumele tifeze kuhlelembiswa lokuhlosiwe ngemnyaka-2020. Litiko kumele licinisekise kutsi tinhlelo tekukhibika letisebentako titfola ematfuba ekungenela temidlalo aniketwe imiphakatsi.
Tinhlelo temidlalo etikolweni tiyasekelwa, tinhlelo tekutfutfukiswa kwetemidlalo etiveni tiyasekelwa,tinhlelo tekuhlelembisa temidlalo tiyetfulwa,kubuye futsi kubukisiswe, kucinisekiswe kungena etindzaweni tetemidlalo nekukhibika kuphindze futsi kuniketwe nekwesekela tekuphatsa nebuchwepheshe. (Translation of Siswati paragraphs follows.)
[Hon Chair, for the 80% target of the national sports federation to be realised, they must fulfil the envisaged goals for 2020. The department should ensure that the community is given functional recreation programmes for participating in sports.
Sport programmes at schools should be supported, national sport developmental programmes should be supported, programmes for organising sport must be delivered, and going into sport and recreation places should be observed and fortified. Management and technology must also be supported.]
In the same breath one cannot address transformation without addressing the importance of infrastructure development in communities and schools. Facilities to enable access to sport and recreation contribute significantly to transformation within the sector.
The NDP states clearly that all schools should develop and maintain infrastructure for at least two sports codes, and all communities should have access to sports facilities. Every ward should have adequate facilities for basic exercise and sporting activities, and that is imperative to improve public services and spaces as well as build integrated housing and sports facilities in our communities to ensure the sharing of common spaces across race and class.
The department will also work closely with the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the SA Local Government Association and the municipalities to maximise the use of the portion of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, MIG, earmarked for the building of sport facilities. The development area requires approximately 15 hectares of land and the projected cost for an urban facility is R250 million and R180 million for rural facilities. Sport and Recreation South Africa will continue to provide technical assistance to local authorities and other relevant stakeholders for construction and managing sports facilities to ensure compliance with the standard.
The NSRP provides for the department to develop a national facilities plan to establish a geographical information system - which is the GIS - to assist with the database on facilities and the development of the plan. This will be preceded by a comprehensive count followed by an audit of all existing facilities where a facility will be graded and classified. A facilities plan was drafted in the 2013-2014 financial year. However, this plan needs to be updated after the finalisation of the facilities audit. We therefore recommend that the department fast-track this audit as this will assist the country and the federation to know how many facilities we have.
The facilities classification framework was also completed in the 2013-2014 financial year. This framework will assist in classifying facilities into different categories which will inform the kind of support that should be provided to each.
In the 2015-2016 financial year, lobbying municipalities and other stakeholders, including the Department of Human Settlement and Basic Education as well as SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, Sascoc, will help in the establishment of a sport precinct in each of the 52 districts clearly marked by the Municipal Demarcation Board. If successful, municipalities will be allowed to pool resources and build facilities catering for outdoor sport.
I therefore congratulate the Minister of Sport on his roll-out of the building of sports gymnasiums in our rural areas and recommend that the programme be extended to other rural areas. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr L M NTSHAYISA
|
Ms D P MANANA
Mr L M NTSHAYISA: Hon Chairperson and hon members, Sport and Recreation plays a very important role in bringing about social cohesion. The budget, as has been alluded to by the Minister, is not enough but we have got to be a department that is at work. Service delivery has got to take place. People are waiting out there, wanting service delivery. There are so many challenges in each and every sporting code namely, soccer, rugby, cricket, boxing and others, and these have got to be addressed with the little budget that we have.
Let me congratulate hon Minister Mbalula on having received a clean audit, as has been alluded to. A clean audit is not child’s play; it means that each and every aspect has been satisfied. It means that now in your department you can do something more with this little budget. So, we do congratulate you.
There are so many challenges and some of these challenges we see in cricket. There are inadequate facilities in the rural areas. We have a lot of unacceptable dropouts of Africans from cricket, and that is the challenge that has got to be addressed. We need stadiums to be established, more especially in the rural areas, so that our children should see that they really are enjoying freedom. We have seen an insufficient number of African cricketers in high performance programmes. All these matters have got to be addressed.
However, we have got to appreciate the new model for cricket in schools that is going to be rolled out in September 2015. We need to develop the talent now from the bottom up and set these specific targets so that we develop talent, especially amongst the black people because they were previously disadvantaged.
Hon Minister, the bursaries and mentors have got to there in order to help our children. The municipalities have got to be encouraged to make use of the municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, because we have a problem with these municipalities. The monies that are always allocated to them are never made used of ... [Interjections.] In any case, we do support the budget because it has got support ... [Time expired.]
Mr M S MALATSI
Mr L M NTSHAYISA
|
Mr M S MALATSI: Mohl Modulasetulo, mohl Tona ya tša Dipapadi le Boitapološo, maloko ka moka a Komiti ya Potfolio ya tša Dipapadi le Boitapološo, ke a leboga. [Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, members of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation, thank you.]
In the interest of fairness, let me start by congratulating the Minister on the sterling work he is doing of professionalising netball and cricket. Let me also acknowledge the incredible impact of the Minister’s sports bursary in giving talented children from poor backgrounds the opportunity to play sports at some of the best sports schools in the country. I also want to applaud the director-general and his team for taking up the portfolio committee’s recommendations of introducing a schedule of penalties for provinces that fail to spend their allocations for sport and recreation.
Now that we have given credit where it is due, let us look at the budget critically. Our view as the DA is that the current budget and the political leadership of the department are punching way below their weight. At a time when the fiscus is overstretched, government departments and entities must be prudent at all times. Sadly, this is not always the case in this department.
The department continues to spend millions on the sports awards while it is under investing on sports infrastructure. This is underscored by the fact that the sports infrastructure support programme has been allocated only R9,7 million, which equates to 1% of the department’s total budget.
The sports awards are an extravagant luxury when the Minister already has the Minister’s Excellence outreach Programme through which he regularly awards prizes and financial incentives to athletes who rightly excel in different codes.
However, let us talk about double standards for a moment. The Minister was quick to appoint a technical team to compile a report on Bafana Bafana’s failures at the Africa Cup of Nations, yet he did not extend the same courtesy to the Proteas for their failure to win the Cricket World Cup when it was expected they would do so.
The Minister, in his capacity as Floyd Mayweather’s groupie, was quick to go to Las Vegas, for Floyd Mayweather’s fight with Parkio. [Laughter.] Yet, when two South African boxing champions - Zolani Tete and Hekkie Budler - fought overseas recently, the Minister did not do so. The Minister applauded the premier boxing league at its inception but has failed to intervene to ensure that boxers who have not received their prize monies are paid.
The Minister likes to dribble us with big ideas using big words. Regrettably, it is not always big action that follows. Beneath all the glitz and glamour of the razzmatazz is the loud noise of an empty vessel. Lest we are accused of playing the man rather than playing the ball, here are the facts: Firstly, the Minister and the Director General have repeatedly repeated made utterances that the SA Sports Awards will soon be self-funding; yet there is no credible plan that has been outlined to this effect.
Secondly, last year, in this very same House, the Minister told us that he was working on a model to advocate, and I quote: `` ... for the establishment of a new ticket levy to be imposed on sports tickets.’’ He also made reference to that today. But, to date, a year after he initially punted this, there is no clear indication of its shape or form; no clear assessment of its possible impact on the sale of sports tickets; no input from sports federations on this, and no consultation whatsoever with sports fans who will bear the brunt of this tax if it is introduced.
Thirdly, last year, in this very same House, the Minister said, and again I quote, that we are working to introduce a geographical information system to assist with a database of facilities and the national facilities plan.’’ And hon Manana indicated at that time that this plan must be fast tracked. Well, it can’t be, because just a month ago the director-general told us in the portfolio committee that this was a stillborn project because the department has neither the capacity nor the resources, and that the provinces themselves have indicated that they also do not have the resources and the capacity.
Boxing in our country is dying a slow death. Back in 2011, in September, the Minister said, and I remind him of his words again, ``We want to bring back the glory of boxing through a decisive commitment to strong leadership and quality management.’’ However, I would argue that it is under the Minister’s leadership that many of the ills that are holding back boxing have become chronic – to be fair, some of them predating his appointment. But your own blunders, hon Minister, are killing the sport of boxing.
Before the Minister accuses me of hitting below the belt, here are some of his blunders: It was the Minister that approved the recommendation of the appointment of a convicted thief, with a mediocre record in management and leadership, as the CEO of Boxing SA in 2011. How does this relate to now? It does, because Moffat Qithi has been a liability to boxing since his appointment. He has cost the department approximately R10 million in court cases as a direct result of the defamation utterances and mismanagement of boxing.
However, despite the fact that he was suspended in 2013, and rightfully so, the Minister, the department and Boxing SA all found it in their wisdom - or lack thereof - to give Mr Qithi over R200 000 in bonuses for the last two financial years, including for last year when he spent the entire year at home. [Interjections.]
Mr M L W FILTANE: On a point of order, Chair.
Mr M S MALATSI: The appointment of Loyiso Mtya as acting CEO who oversaw the failure of Boxing SA to pay R7,5 million ... [Interjections.]
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): Can you hold on, hon member. Is that a point of order, hon member?
Mr M L W FILTANE: Yes, please. The point of order is: Is it parliamentary to punch so hard? [Laughter.]
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): That is not a point of order, hon member.
Mr M S MALATSI: In football we call that time-wasting tactics, but it will not work.
Then there is the appointment of Loyiso Mtya as an acting CEO who oversaw the failure of Boxing SA to pay R7,5 million from taxes which was deducted from boxers but never paid to Sars. He was subsequently suspended and, just before they made the ruling on his suspension, he left. Now he is in boxing as a trainer - one of South Africa’s aspired positions. He does not deserve play any role in boxing.
So, we will never bring back the glory of boxing for as long as Boxing SA does not have a full-time competent CEO, for as long as it fails to act decisively against dodgy promoters who fail to pay prize monies on time.
Allow me to pay tribute to Portia Modise for her immense contribution to Banyana Banyana. She was not just a great female footballer, but she was an incredibly great footballer and an activist for better conditions for women in football. Sadly, the boardrooms of sports federations are palaces of patriarchy where the best interests of women are overlooked.
It is shocking that our national hockey team, which has consistently qualified for the Olympics, is not paid match fees for playing for the country; rather the team is given stipends to be in camp. It is also disgusting that the country’s best performing national football team for some time, by the name of Banyana Banyana, is paid just R5 000 per match while their male counterparts earn up to R60 000 for a win. Many of these female sports stars have to find full-time jobs then take unpaid leave to play for the national team where they are paid peanuts.
We must reject any justification and defence of the status quo which insists that female athletes must be paid less than our national sports team simply because they are women. [Applause.] We must dismantle barriers to gender equality in sport with everything in our power. We must do so because it is the right thing to do. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): One minute left, hon member.
Mr M S MALATSI: It is for this reason that the DA has approached the Commission for Gender Equality to tackle unequal match fees for Banyana Banyana and the hockey team.
We are not a party that stands for opposing something for the sake of it; we have solutions. So, our immediate solutions are: One, appoint a competent CEO of Boxing SA; two, establish professional female leagues for football, cricket and rugby, and immediately intervene to improve the match fees of Banyana Banyana, the Proteas and the Boks; three, make it compulsory for all federations to cover medical insurance of all national team players at all times; and build a strong synergy with the Department of Human Settlements and local municipalities to ensure that, when new communities are established, sports facilities are built, optimising the urban settlement development grant.
The Minister likes to host a series of events from time to time. Those can often distract us from scrutiny of this department. From a former spin doctor to your spin doctors, hon Minister, I want to say: You can spin some people some of the time or even spin some people all of the time, but you can never spin all of the people all of the time. [Time expired.] [Applause.][Interjections.]
The TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON (Mrs X S Tom): Order, hon members! Hon members, can you give the member an opportunity to continue the debate. Order!
Mr S M RALEGOMA
|
Mr M S MALALTSI
Mr S M RALEGOMA: House Chairperson, hon Minister and other Ministers present, hon Deputy Minister and other Deputy Ministers present, hon members, the director-general, leadership of Sport and Recreation South Africa, teams that are present, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to participate in the budget debate on Sport and Recreation. I must say from the onset that the ANC has given leadership on this field during the struggle against apartheid up to the readmission of South Africa into the international field.
As we speak, South Africa is part of the international sporting fraternity and is competing as equals with other countries. These credentials of the ANC continue to give hope to millions of young South Africans that they will one day represent South Africa internationally. No amount of propaganda is going to erase this fact. [Applause.] Our approach as the ANC is informed by the National Development Plan which is our long-term plan and the government’s Medium-Term Strategic Framework which have now been aligned. We are satisfied that the budget has been allocated to the priorities as per the manifesto and the 53rd ANC conference resolutions on sport and recreation, hence our support to Budget Vote 40.
Engaging in sport and recreation gives us possibilities to promote community development, social cohesion, possibilities to combat xenophobia, like the recent campaign by the SA Football Association, Safa, and the Premier Soccer League, PSL, and also play a critical role in sharpening the minds of children at schools.
In the past 21 years, the ANC government has made significant strides in the development and transformation of all sporting codes in the country, including making physical education a standalone and compulsory subject at schools, and more sporting infrastructures has been built particularly in disadvantaged areas and rural areas. While we have made life better for more people in the last 20 years, there is no doubt that the apartheid legacy still runs deep and we won’t agree with the opposition that the playing fields are now level. Our view is that school sport is taking shape and that is confirmed by the attendance which varies, with between 9 000 and 13 000 participants taking part for five days every year. This, for us, is value for money.
As the chairperson has said, we need to increase our oversight work in order to speed up service delivery. With regard to league funding and provincial funding, we can only say it is not enough if we are going to ensure that we interact with the NCOP as well as all the municipalities.
With regard to Boxing South Africa, we will pay particular attention to their current challenges and we are of the view that the assistance given by the department is correct and supported as we do not want to see the diminishing of boxing on our watch.
In conclusion, we congratulate the department for continually receiving a clean audit. [Applause.] As the ANC, we are not going to be forced to become populists by either the DA or the EFF. Our approach on transformation is that of ensuring that we engage the sporting bodies that are responsible in provinces and in the federations.
The issue of becoming populist in approach is not going to assist us with regard to transformation. From where we are sitting we are happy that the department, through its assistance by the eminent persons group, EPG, will end up seeing improved progress because the approach now is going to be from the bottom up rather just imposing quotas. It is important for the House and the public to know that the ANC will, at all times, emphasise the issue of quotas because it is in our own resolutions.
It is important that we should clarify, as well, the point that was made by the hon Filtane that the Minister does not attend portfolio committee meetings. The Minister is not a member of the portfolio committee. The Minister attends as per invitation by the chairperson and the committee. We have discussed this issue in the House. It surprises us that the hon Filtane will from time to time, when he sees the media, grandstand... [Interjections.]
Mr M L W FILTANE: On a point of order: Is the hon Ralegoma prepared to take a question and tell us when the Minister accounts to the committee? That’s my question.
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): No, that is not a point of order. [Interjections.]
Mr S M RALEGOMA: No, we don’t have time.
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): No, that is not a point of order. Continue, hon member.
Mr S M RALEGOMA: On the issue of sports awards, from where we are sitting, we think there is a need to provide incentives for sportspeople. If we want accountability in terms of the funds that are utilised, we need to ask those questions openly. We must not ask those questions and come here and do grandstanding. I am surprised the hon Malatsi comes here to deliberately try to push us to compare the SA Football Association, Safa, and Cricket SA, and also want to push the Minister by saying that he is applying double standards. Double standards are ... [Interjections.]
Mr M S MALATSI: On a point of order, Chair. I am more than happy to take as much as I gave, but the hon member is misleading the House on what I said. [Interjections.]
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): What is your point of order, hon member? [Interjections.]
Mr M S MALATSI: He is misleading the House.
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): It is not a point of order, hon member.
Mr M S MALATSI: You don’t know what I am going to say.
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): It is not a point of order.
Mr M S MALATSI: How do you know what I’m going to say? He is misleading the House. Can I explain how?
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): Hon member, you stand up on a point of order. Just say what your point of order is, and do not explain. You stand up on a point of order and do not start explaining. Thank you very much. Can you continue.
Mr S LUZIPO: On a point of order, Chair. I think we must agree that the member is misleading the House by saying something is a point of order when it is not.
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): Hon member, please, that is not a point of order. Carry on, hon member.
Mr S M RALEGOMA: The hon Malatsi is the one who is applying double standards. He is applying double standards because we discussed the issue of the ticket levy and the basis of the discussions around ticket levies was on the possibility of the introduction of ... [Interjections.]
Mr T W MHLONGO: Is the hon member prepared to take a question? [Interjections.]
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): Are you prepared to take a question?
Mr T W MHLONGO: We want to find out what happened to the Alexandra sporting codes.
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X Tom): Hon members, I call on you not to abuse the opportunity to raise points of order. Please, don’t do that.
Mr S M RALEGOMA: We are not surprised by these developments. We are used to it.
I want to repeat what I said earlier. The apartheid legacy runs deep. I am disappointed that the DA comes here and pretends that there are no problems.After 21 years, all of a sudden, the playing fields are level. It is not true. [Interjections.]
Even their charter gives an impression that everything is equal. It is not true because the legacy created by apartheid runs deep and there is no way that will sort out all the problems. Besides that, you must understand that the approach of the ANC is not just looking at sport, but it is also ensuring that it gives people houses. And it is the only country that does that. It has the best social welfare programme. You can only get that from the ANC. That is why there is no way that we could be in a position to undo what apartheid created over donkeys years in just 20 years.
We will take up the matter with the hon Malatsi in the committee because it is really disappointing that he comes here and accuses officials who are sitting in the gallery; officials who cannot come here and answer for themselves. So we will take this matter up in the committee with the hon Malatsi. [Applause.]
As the ANC, we are confident that we remain the champion of the people and our people there have confidence in us. There is no way that we are going to end up taking stands that are similar to the EFF. There is no way that we are going to take the stands that are taken by the DA. We are going to remain steadfast in terms of ensuring that we engage all key stakeholders in transforming sport in South Africa. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): Thank you.
Before I call upon the Minister, I am going to call on the hon Carter.
Ms D CARTER: Hon Chairperson... [Interjections.]
Mr S M RALEGOMA: Hon Chair, how can the hon Carter come after I have spoken? Who was consulted?
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): Hon member, hon Carter was not in at the time and I’m giving her the opportunity. [Interjections.]
Mr S M RALEGOMA: It can’t be our problem. You can’t put her after I have spoken.
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom): Hon members, hon Carter was not here when her turn came and now I am giving her an opportunity to participate in the debate.
Ms D CARTER
|
The TEMPORARY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms X S Tom)
Ms D CARTER: Hon Chairperson, just to assist, we did make arrangements before the time because I was debating in the National Assembly as well.
The first question that Cope wishes to pose to the Minister is whether South Africa has shrunk to five provinces. Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and the Northern Cape do not feature in major sporting codes. Where are they? The Eastern Cape is half in and half out. After 21 years surely all nine provinces should have looked like equals? What has the Minister done to achieve provincial equity in sport?
Cope also wants to know whether our many beautiful stadiums are destined to become white elephants. Remodelling should take place to make stadiums affordable to communities. Each province with unused or underutilised stadiums should organise provincial and interprovincial games to keep them operational. There is a discernible lack of leadership, absence of entrepreneurial capacity and a failure to co-ordinate.
Nelson Mandela would have ensured that cities were using every stadium optimally in order to achieve social, sporting and economic goals. Cope believes that the Minister must convene a national summit to find creative and feasible ways to enable schools, communities and sports federations to use our stadiums to the fullest. If they are unused, they constitute a debt burden. Seeking to have no burden is no solution. When we watch a European team play, Barcelona for example, we find as many as 82 000 spectators packing themselves into a stadium. Why are they succeeding and we are not? We still have, much to our shame, segregation in our spectator composition. After 21 years, we are still marching on the spot.
Cope urges the Minister to show real leadership, Mandela-style with Mandela gravitas. The potential of sports for social cohesion, nation-building and quality of life is enormous. We should not gather on important national days to hear politicians speak. Instead, we should heed the lesson of Ancient Greece and make such days big and attractive sporting events. Action, not words, will forge the bonds of nationhood. Well before any important day in the calendar, the Minister and his team of premiers, mayors and officials, should approach community leaders to come out in full force so that we achieve a demographically acceptable representation of spectators. We have lost 21 valuable years. We want goals in the nets. Dribbling and not scoring is neither attractive nor gratifying.
The use of quotas is an intrusive instrument. Proactive scouting for talent and sending young players to a regional sports academy to hone their skills will address demographic representation in major sports in an organic and natural way. National teams must play shadow national teams so that a larger pool of players has experience playing at the top level. We are not doing this. Some very talented South African players, therefore, leave our shores to make a great name for themselves in other countries like England, New Zealand or Australia because they had no openings here. Our public broadcaster must also come to the party.
Cope also urges the Minister to gather support for the Southern African Development Community, SADC, or Southern African sports umbrella organisation. Bring the media on board and then you will see how sport will actually flourish.
Hon Minister, why don’t we bring South Africa to the world stage of Motocross Grand Prix world championship? We can reach 1,3 billion spectators in 180 nations, 50 000 to 60 000 on-site spectators. We can create tourism and we can create jobs. I thank you.
The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION
Ms D CARTER
|
The MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION: Chairperson, it is difficult to debate with hon members who are interacting with sports issues for the first time in this debate. I forgive them, because to be in Parliament means having a number of members, which means that you might not have a sufficient number of members to serve in every committee. So, I forgive your ignorance because, at the end of the day, we deal with issues from newspaper clippings and not from the fundamental engagement with the department over a period of time. Amen. [Interjections.]
On the second issue which was raised here by hon Malatsi about double standards, it does not surprise me that he chooses to raise frivolous issues which are not fundamental when it comes to sports development and transformation. In fact, in everything that he said, he never uttered the word ``development’’ or ``transformation’’.
He basically chose niceties and elevated them as though they were fundamental issues with regard to sport. There are no double standards. Cricket does not need any evaluation. From what it has achieved, the boys have done well. Cricket is well consolidated and on the path of winning as a nation.
With regard to football, Shakes Mashaba is on a journey of rebuilding the national team. They need all our support. They have graduated from being losers to winners, and that is what you need for the nation. [Applause.] That is why we have spent time supporting the national team, in particular with regard to scientific support and the evaluation of its performance in Equatorial Guinea. Our boys are well on track in terms of their achievement. [Applause.]
You raised an issue about the sports levy - which you distorted again. A sports levy is a generated policy that must reach out to stakeholders and be agreed to by Treasury and endorsed by Cabinet. It is something we proposed from Sport. Again, you distorted it because once we talked about the model for funding for sport. This is what is important because sport largely depends on corporate but at the same time depends on government in terms of funding.
If we look at a funding model for sport, one of the things that we need to do, which other countries have done, is introduce a ticket levy. A ticket levy does not mean an increase on the price that everybody pays to attend a soccer or rugby match. Already, part of what you pay will be allocated to sport, which is not happening in South Africa today. You can imagine how many millions go through tickets and nothing is allocated for development. That is what we are calling for when it comes to the question of a ticket levy.
When it comes to boxing, I was elaborate, unless you had put something in your ears and deliberately not listened to what I was saying. [Interjections.] Firstly, I talked about the R10 million allocation to the development of the SA National Boxing Organisation. The question of the premier league of boxing is a private initiative by Dicksy Ngqula, which we endorsed because it intervenes in terms of ensuring that boxers who are not participating - just like the premier league of cricket in India – are actually participating. So, government and even the private sector can participate in that but that is not our initiative. I never proposed a boxing premier league as you put it; it is something that was proposed and I vowed to support it and I am going to support it.
But, my priority, as government, is not to drive private initiatives; it is to invest in development. [Interjections.] Hence I am going to invest R10 million in the development of Sanabo, in order to produce athletes who’ll go and compete in the Olympics and bring back medals. And that is what I’m doing together ... [Applause.] ... with the Department of Defence, to introduce Operation Victory Lap. This is what I have learned from India and all other countries who have involved the defence force in the development of sport. This is what I’m doing.
Moffat Qithi was not employed by me; he, in fact, did not disclose all his credentials to the board and once everything was found out about him, he was suspended. This country is a constitutional state; people go to the Labour Court and at the same time fight for their rights. You know that it is not my call. If I had wanted to, which I will not say now, he would have been long gone, but the fact of the matter is that it is that board that has actually done an injustice to us. Now, you come here and grandstand ... [Time expired.]
Debate concluded.
The Committee rose at 19:18.
Audio
No related
Documents
No related documents