ATC120425: Report The 2012/13 Budget Vote 20 & Strategic Plan for 2012-2016 dated 25 April 2012
Sport, Arts and Culture
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SPORT AND RECREATION ON THE 2012/13 BUDGET VOTE 20 AND STRATEGIC PLAN FOR 2012-2016 OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SPORT AND RECREATION, DATED 25 APRIL 2012
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SPORT AND RECREATION ON THE 2012/13 BUDGET VOTE 20 AND STRATEGIC PLAN FOR 2012-2016 OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SPORT AND RECREATION, DATED 25 APRIL 2012
1. Background and Overview
The Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation having considered the directive of the National Assembly (NA) to consider and report on the 2012/13 Budget of the Department of Sport and Recreation tabled by the Minister of Sport and Recreation in terms of the requirements of the Public Finance Management, Act 32 of 2000 reports as follows:
1.1 Introduction
On 13 March 2012, the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation was briefed
by the Department of Sport and Recreation on its Strategic Plan for the period 2012-2016
and Budget Vote 20. In addition, the Portfolio Committee invited stakeholders to make
submissions on the Budget Vote.
2. Delegation of Department of Sport & Recreation and others
The Executive and officials were represented by the Hon Fikile Mbalula , Minister of Sport &
Recreation; Mr Alec Moemi , Director General of the Department of Sport and Recreation
(SRSA) and Mr M Matlala , Chief Financial Officer of SRSA.
The statutory bodies and other entities that formed part of the budget hearings included;
Boxing South Africa , represented by Chief Executive Officer, Mr M Qithi and South African
Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS) represented by the Chief Financial Officer, Mr K Galant .
3. Overview by the Hon Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr Fikile Mbalula
Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr Fikile Mbalula led the briefing and explained that the Department of Sport and Recreation had formulated a Strategic Plan for 2012/2016, which underpinned the strategic objectives of the department and the performance plans aimed at giving the nation its planned activities and programmes as well as budget allocations for the financial year under review.
He highlighted the six major focus areas of the Strategic Plan of the Department of Sport and Recreation namely; (1) accelerating transformation; (2) rekindling and revitalization of schools sport; (3) remodelling the institutional architecture of the department; (4) fostering mass participation; (5) reinvigorating the recreation cohort; and (6) mobilizing sufficient funds and funding for optimal programme execution.
The strategic plan was divided into Annual Plan and the activities aimed at realising the objectives of the 2012/2016 strategic plan. On an annual basis the plan would position itself to integrate the National Sport and Recreation Plan (NSRP) 2030 as was adopted by the National Sport and Recreation Indaba (NSRI) in November 2011.
The Department has a legislative mandate to take overall responsibility for sport and recreation in South Africa . It included the promotion and development of sport and recreation, coordinating relationships between National Federations ( NFs ), intervening to correct the imbalances in sport and recreation and to promote equitable access to facilities and proper governance in sport.
The Department was empowered to facilitate and regulate all sporting disciplines in terms of the National Sport and Recreation Amendment Act. The presentation emanated from the January 2011 Strategic Planning Workshop for the Department, Members of the Executive Councils and the South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) together with Sport Federations.
The Ministerial programme was aimed at mobilizing society into sport activeness and also to generate dialogue with the stakeholders in defining the new sport landscape. The Minister said the citizens of the country were encouraged to take in the work of National Federations ( NFs ) through establishing strong provincial and nation sport councils. Among other resolutions taken at the Indaba, it was agreed that there should be a re-structured sport landscape in South Africa , which emphasized access and optimal performance.
Progress made since 1994 was recognised in the Indaba and all stakeholders had been called upon to redouble their efforts and commitments in addressing persistent disparities in sport and recreation. As the Department moved towards its 18th anniversary, reflections on the road traversed occupied its core business and it was palpable that the vistas gave way to lessons learnt and the long road that lay ahead in order to achieve a better life for all.
3.1. Accelerating transformation
The Strategic Planning workshop saw extensive discussions and conclusions on issues related to transformation, school sport, facilities and funding. These were finalised at the National Sport and Recreation Indaba held last year where stakeholders and role-players committed themselves to evolving transformation discourse in sport aimed at levelling the playing field and creating participation opportunities to all. The Minister said the citizens of the country were encouraged to take in the work of National Federations through establishing strong provincial and nation sport councils. Among other resolutions taken at the Indaba, it was agreed that there should be a re-structured sport landscape in South Africa , which emphasized access and optimal performance.
It recognised the steps taken to improve the performance of athletes and teams through own access integration efforts and coordination of all sport structures and systems. It was a collective responsibility of all to embrace the campaign and provide proper leadership in order to realise the dream of qualitative and sound sport system. Also, excellence would be rewarded through a well organised South African Sport Awards and the Department had been committed to ensure that the 2012 ceremony was bigger and better.
The Department would continue to contribute towards transformation, job creation, rural development, health lifestyles, peace and economic growth. The most significant contribution however, will be the promotion of social cohesion. The Department is a signatory to the Outcome 12(b) delivery agreement under the guidance of the Department of Public Service and Administration.
Sport had been elevated in the Government Programme of Action from an activity to a specific sub-output and is now recognised as a formidable tool of building social capital. The Department committed itself to ultimately deliver on the outcome 12(b): increasing opportunities for participation in sport and recreation and facilitating intra-governmental support for major international events hosted in South Africa .
The activities provided citizens with opportunities to interact, to share a common purpose and contribute to nation building. Opportunities for participation in sport would be boasted by seeking to implement the resolutions of the Sport and Recreation Indaba (SRI). The strategic plan gives impetus to the implementation of the NSRP by integrating it into the Government Planning Cycle and the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. At the heart of the plan is the transformation Charter and Scorecard, which would enable the sport system to measure whether it is achieving the agreed goals and reaching targets in terms of accessibility and empowerment. The process would be driven by the Eminent Persons Group on transportation on sport and recreation which would be appointed soon to monitor and evaluate performance in achieving targets.
3.2. Rekindling and revitalization of schools sport
The Minister informed the Committee that School Sport remained the bedrock for talent identification and nurturing and mass participation in sport. The Department was in the process of finalising the memorandum of understanding with the Department of Basic Education to make schools sport participation and development an integral part of a total scholarship. The Department recognised school sport as the bedrock or development in which a large pool of resources would be invested. A Memorandum of Understanding had already been signed with the Department of Basic Education to define roles and responsibilities. Work was in progress to implement the 2012 school league, which would culminate into the National Schools Competition at the end of the year.
The roll out of the programme would be underpinned by three pillars: capacity building, the Top School League and the Youth Olympics.
3.3. Remodelling the institutional architecture of the department
The Minister pointed out that the Strategic Plan focuses on unlocking the real value of the Departments mandate, both in policy and practical programmatic implementation. It is aimed at ensuring that as many South Africans as possible have access to sport and recreation activities, particularly those from disadvantaged communities. By the same token the Department will sharpen its resolve to support the increase in international sport successes by strengthening performances at all levels of participation.
In addition, the Minister stressed that these epic objectives required that the Department work together with all our stakeholders, including, Parliament, SASCOC, national federations as well as our communities, to ensure that we fully unlock our value proposition.
3.4. Mass Participation
Mass participation would be pursued vigorously as it encouraged community activeness and created opportunities for identification of raw talent in the most remote areas of the country - the rural areas. The programme helped with clubs development while at the same time exposing the realities of underdevelopment and lack of facilities for sport and recreation. A lot of attention would be focused towards transformation, mass participation and schools sport.
3.5. Reinvigorating the recreation cohort
The Minister explained that recreation can be achieved through youth camps as a strategic anchor to foster social cohesion in order to ensure that young people work co-operatively across race, ethnicity, gender, geographical location, class, language and creed. The Ministerial programme aimed to mobilize society into sport activeness and also to generate dialogue with the stakeholders in defining the new sport landscape.
Recreation which had not received attention in the previous years was to be fully integrated and a Ministerial Advisory Team would be appointed in the next two weeks to engage society on feasible projects and programmes so as to speed up the process. In addition, through recreation the Department aimed to drive the campaign on healthy lifestyles working in close cooperation with the Department of Health with a broader view of attacking social ills prevalent in the country, for example substance abuse. In order to achieve the objectives the Department would build sustainable partnerships with different stakeholders as indicated in the Indaba. Some of these would include SASCOC, National Federations, Sport Councils, private sector and non governmental organizations.
3.6. Mobilizing funding for optimal programme execution
The Department was in the process of engaging municipalities on ring-fencing of the 15% of the Public municipal Service infrastructure component of the Infrastructure Grant towards building sport facilities in the rural areas as was gazetted in May 2011. Working together with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Department will conduct a national facilities audit to ascertain the state of sport infrastructure and was hoping to establish a Geographical Information System (GIS) that would assist in the implementation of the national facilities plan. Currently, the Department was developing 52 infrastructure hubs in 52 districts around the country in line with the Demarcation Board so as to allow municipalities to join resources and build a single vibrant infrastructure facility.
4. Presentation on the Strategic Plan 2012-2016 of the Department of Sport and Recreation
The Director General of the Department of Sport and Recreation, Mr Alec Moemi led the presentation of the Departments Strategic Plan for 2012-2016 to the Portfolio Committee. The outcomes oriented approach had been followed in the formulation of the Strategic Plans. The performance plan was in effect the business plan for the Department. The 2012 2016 strategic plans were focussed on increasing participation and the level of international competition. The strategic plan included inputs from previous strategic plans.
The Department had designed the strategic plan and complemented it with an annual performance plan as required by the law. The plan was aligned tot the new Sport and Recreation Plan which was adopted in November last year.
The plan covered the Administration programme, Sport Support Systems, Mass participation, International Relations and Facilities Coordination. The structure had not yet responded to the new mandate in terms of the national plan; hence the Department had begun a restructuring programme.
The 2012-2016 Strategic Plan was comprised of three sections: part (a) dealt with the strategic overview of the Department, which covered the Vision, Mission and Values of the department as well as constitutional, legislative and policy mandates and situational analysis of disparities. Part (b) was the most important section that dealt with the five major programmes of the Department and would be the key focus area for the Department and part (c) was much more about links to other plans and how the entity had managed to reformulate its relations with municipalities, provinces and major role players in the sport fraternity.
Mr Moemi said that there had been discussions on the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) with the Department of Human Settlement (DHS) and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA). There had been fruitful discussions on maintenance and integrated planning. There had been much debate over the Sports Councils. Furthermore, a discussion was needed with SASCOC. The Department realised that the academy system was not working. Demographics were not being addressed. Coaching was a key element to success. SASCOC was taking the lead. A coaching conference had been held which had led to a draft framework. It would impact on the way school sport would move forward. The draft framework should be ready by November 2012.
The presentation focused on the three key strategic programmes of the Department namely, Mass Participation, Sports Development and High Performance.
4.1. Mass Participation Programme
Mr Moemi stated that the Department should continue to pursue initiatives that increased the number of participants in Sport and Recreation. The Department has to broaden its focus to the area of recreation and strengthen its relationship with the Department of Basic Education in the delivery of the school sports programme. He further indicated that the Department intends to increase the mass participation base through effective sports promotion programmes and intensive media campaigns. School sport remained the bedrock for mass participation and talent identification programmes which would help the Department to achieve its dual mandate of an active and winning nation. The biggest challenge was how would the talent identification programme be able to capture all talented individuals and ensure that they can be supported going forward.
The Mass Participation Programme would ensure for the creation of jobs. Provinces were allowed to utilise 6% of their allocated funds from the conditional grant to employ officials to assist in the management of the grant and the implementation of the mass participation programme at a grass roots level.
4.2. School Sports
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in December 2011 had improved relations between the two Departments. The Minister, Angie Motshekga had gazetted a school sport policy which would receive final input from the public at the end of March and hopefully be finalised by June 2012. The policy would among other things compel students to participate in sport in schools and would make it mandatory for each school to have one sporting code in 2012. In mass participation programmes the Department was using the conditional grant as the key tool to ensure that provinces adhere to regulations and laid down expectations and all provinces had supported the grant tool. More ways of monitoring the provincial grant were being considered and the Department had established a focused task team to manage and monitor the process as well as provide support to provinces that were struggling with spending their allocations.
The Department would coordinate a Top School League Programme which would involve schools registering their teams to participate in the Leagues five competition levels, leading to the National School Festivals. These competitions will be at the levels of Intra-School, Inter-school, District, Provincial and National.
The South African Youth Olympics would focus on talented individual athletes who would have been identified by professional talent scouts, sports clubs and Federations during the roll-out of the Top School League. In 2013, the South Africa Youth Olympics (SYO) would begin and athletes who would demonstrate outstanding performance will be given the opportunity to compete for selection for international championships.
The programme would not be limited to schools only but would see out of school youths until the age of 28 years, taking part in the competitions. The system would assist SRSA in growing and broadening the pool of new talent from which, selection of the best performing individuals would be taken.
To address challenges of infrastructure backlog, the Department had begun an audit process of school facilities together with municipalities. A meeting was scheduled for June to discuss schools infrastructure with municipalities and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs would be brought on board.
4.3. Sport Development
Mr Moemi indicated that the Department intends to focus on facilitating the transition from mass based programmes to high performance through coordinating and monitoring the important areas of talent identification and development as well as the delivery of scientific support to national development athletes. The development programmes would be supported by an effective national athlete tracking system.
Furthermore, the Department would continue to focus on empowering educators in code specific coaching, technical officiating, team management and sports administration through the federations and in line with the SA Coaching Framework. SRSA was on the verge of signing an agreement with Culture, Arts, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSETA) and 16 priority sport codes had been identified.
Training for level-1 coaching would commence in the coming financial year beginning with teachers so that they become extensions of federations. The rollout of the schools programme will be underpinned by three pillars: namely, capacity building, the Top Schools Leagues and Youth Olympics.
4.4. Facilities
The Department would continue to support Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) service providers through purchasing of gym equipment, sport attire, catering, consultants, IT equipment and other services. The geographical information system of the facilities was nearly complete and would be used to finalise the costing of the National Sport Plan. Fifty two infrastructure hubs would be built in 52 districts.
The facilities programme was expected to develop a national facilities plan and to establish the tool (Geographical Information System (GIS)) which would assist with the development of the plan.
In rural areas, it was envisaged that the sports hubs would be furnished with a library, a clinic and a youth centre whilst centres located in urban areas could include world-class facilities, amongst other necessities.
4.5. High Performance
Mr Moemi informed the Committee that the Department intended to improve working relations with its key strategic partner in nourishing talent in high performance sport in our country. Therefore SASCOC becomes the relevant strategic partner of the Department since its mandate is to deliver in the focus area of high performance.
The Department intends to improve our countrys international ranking through adequate scientific support to our athletes. In conclusion, he further stated that the Department realised that the above strategic focus areas needed to be supported by strong regulatory framework, adequate financial resources, reliable sports information and functional sports academies.
The Department would continue to work closely with departments such as Basic Education, Tourism and Health in order to further the spirit of corporative governance. The Department further intends to finalise the White Paper on sport and recreation that would set the tone for the blueprint for sports in our country. The key focus of this policy document would be transformation of sport and promotion of excellence in sport.
Presentation by the Director General on the SRSA Budget Vote 2012/2013
5. Budget Allocations and Variances in Expenditure: 2012/2013
The Committee was informed that the 2012/13 Sport and Recreation Budget was essentially divided into five programmes namely: Administration, Sport Support Services, Mass participation, International Liaison and Events, and Facilities Coordination, which differed from that of the previous year.
|
Programme |
Budget |
Nominal Rand change |
Real Rand change |
Nominal % change |
Real % change |
|||
|
R million |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2011/12-2012/13 |
2011/12-2012/13 |
||
|
Administration |
108.8 |
113.2 |
124.6 |
131.8 |
4.4 |
- 1.9 |
4.04 per cent |
-1.75 per cent |
|
Sport Support Services |
162.0 |
187.3 |
214.0 |
228.3 |
25.3 |
14.9 |
15.62 per cent |
9.18 per cent |
|
Mass Participation |
500.8 |
525.4 |
553.1 |
584.3 |
24.6 |
- 4.7 |
4.91 per cent |
-0.93 per cent |
|
International Liaison & Events |
40.5 |
13.9 |
12.9 |
13.6 |
- 26.6 |
- 27.4 |
-65.68 per cent |
-67.59 per cent |
|
Facilities Coordination |
8.7 |
8.6 |
9.2 |
9.5 |
- 0.1 |
- 0.6 |
-1.15 per cent |
-6.66 per cent |
|
TOTAL |
820.8 |
848.4 |
913.8 |
967.5 |
27.6 |
- 19.7 |
3.36 per cent |
-2.40 per cent |
1. Source : 2012 Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE)
5.1 Administration
Expenditure grew from R74, 1 million in 2008/09 to R108.8 million in 2011/12 due to the filling of posts in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Services sub-programmes. Expenditure on compensation of employees also increased from R37, 3 million in 2008/09 to R56, 1 million in 2011/12. Over the medium term expenditure it is expected to grow to R131, 8 million in 2014/15 which is due to increased municipal and office accommodation charges. Expenditure for consultants had declined but is expected to increase over the medium term due to the need for legal services. Of the 35 vacancies in the Department, 28 were in the Administration programme. The overall essence of this programme was to provide overall and centralised support services. This means that administering, guiding and managing Sport and Recreation was the core business of this programme.
5.2 Support Services Programme
This was one of the key programmes of the Department with a focus on increasing participation through providing financial support, strengthening high performance sport, promoting sport at a community level and empowering sport human resources through the training of coaches, administrators and technical officials. Key sub-programmes include: programme management, sport and recreation service providers, club development, education and scientific support. The budget for this programme was expected to increase from R162 million in 2011/12 to R228, 3 million in 2014/15 due to additional allocations to Boxing South Africa and the increased number of sports federations supported from 61 in 2011/12 to 70 in 2014/15. In preparation for the 2012 Olympics and the Paralympics, expenditure for the Scientific Sub-programme would increase. Support for sporting bodies also increases during this period. The programme makes transfers to Love-life, the South African Sports Confederation & Olympic Committee, Boxing South Africa and the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport. Expenditure for consultants increased during this period in preparation for the 2012 Olympics.
5.3 The Scientific Support
The sub-programme allocation was projected to grow at a much slower average annual rate of 24.3 per cent over the medium term, due to increase expenditure on consultants to train more athletes through the sport science institute in preparation for the 2012 Olympics and for research on medical and scientific interventions. If this is a case, the committee should be concern about the culture of hiring consultants, while academies and high performance centres are accounted as spring board circumventing athletes in the annual report. In fact this year the budget for this programme moved from 104.3 to 158 million, with a nominal increase of 52.06 per cent due to above stated reasons. This is a programme that is meant to provide support to public entities.
5.4 Mass Participation Programme
The Mass Participation programme was the largest programme of the Department and promotes sustainable participation of people previously excluded, strengthening of school sport through the training of coaches, developing school sports by monitoring service level agreements with federations and the identification of talent. Key sub-programmes include: programme management, Community Mass Participation and School Sport. The Community Sub-programme is the largest component of this Programme and is expected to increase over the medium term. The amount includes reduction of the MPP Grant of R13, 1 million over the MTEF (R4.9 million in 2012/13; R3.1 million in 2013/14; and R5.1 million in 2014/15) to the Mass Participation Sport Development conditional grant. A slide showed allocation of funds per programme in the 2009-2015 MTEF periods. In the 2011/2012 financial year administration received R 108, 832 but the actual estimate was R 13,196 million.
There was no budget for the 2010 FIFA World Cup since the work had been completed and the report would be brought to the Committee. The MPP budget had increased significantly as a result of expenditure on school sports. In the last financial year the programme received R 470,758 million which had since increased to R 500,821 million in the current financial year. Funding for facilities coordination had been increased significantly from R 7, 200 in the 2010/11 financial year to R 8,741 in 2011/2012.
5.5 International liaison and events
This programme manages international exchange programmes, supports travel arrangements for sports people, and encourages the staging of major sports events in South Africa and the promotion of sports tourism. This programme would manage five international exchange programmes during 2012/13, would host 12 sporting events and promote South Africa through two major international sports events. Key sub programmes include the International Liaison and Major events sub programme. Expenditure for this programme decreases from R40, 5 million in 2011/12 to R13, 6 million in 2014/15. The declining budget for this programme was due to the rollover of R16, 7 million received in 2011/12 for value added tax refunds on 2010 FIFA World Cup tickets and savings of R3, 8 million in spending on goods and services. This programme was meant to negotiate government-government agreements and managed the ensuing programmes of cooperation. Another increase was in International Liaison and Events whose budget increased from R 14, 504 in 2010/11 to R 40, 528 in 2011/12.
The increase was to account for the government guarantees for the 2013 AFCON games in January. The transfers to the Non-Profit Institutions had been increased from R 76, 062 to
R 101, 695 in 2011/2012 which accounted for transfers given to sports Trusts in order to administer Inter-School League programmes and other interventions.
5.6 Facilities Coordination
Facilities coordination was planning and lobbying for the provision of sport and recreation facilities by municipalities, in accordance with the national sport and recreation facilities plan last year. This programme established a sports geographical information system, lobbied municipalities to build sports facilities; facilitated the provision of multi-purpose sports facilities; built upon the legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup; provided technical assistance for sport infrastructure and the training of facility managers so as to ensure the proper maintenance of sports facilities.
The two sub programmes include planning & advocacy and technical support. The programme is also involved in overseeing the donor funds received from the German development bank, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau ( KfW ), for developing infrastructure associated with the youth development against violence through sport project.
This programme was responsible for purchasing mobile gyms to designated municipalities. Over the medium terms this programme increases from R8, 7 million in 2011/12 to R9 ,5 million in 2014/15. Over the medium term, expenditure on contractors was expected to increase from R712 000 in 2011/12 to R5, 2 million in 2014/15 for the development and maintenance of a sports facilities database using the geographical information system that would inform the national facilities plan .
Facilities coordination received 1% as they were a prerogative of provinces and municipalities and an amount was earmarked for facilities audit, GIS system and classification of facilities. The International Liaison which used to receive 0 ,7 %, was allocated 2% of the budget to cover the AFCON and other smaller tournaments. For the SRSA budget that excluded transfers: MPP about 15% (R55, 787 million), administration 30% (R113, 196 million), International liaison 4 % (R 13, 881m), Sport Support services 49% (R187, 290m).
The SRSA spending on allocations per economic classification including provinces was
R 848, 524 million, with compensation taking 10,82%, goods and services 17,5%, public entities 2,16%, provinces 55,35%, capital goods 0,29% and NonProfit Organization accounting for 13.86% of the total allocation.
The budget estimate over the MTEF per economic classification excluding transfers was
R 378, 886 million. Non-Profit institutions accounted for 31%, capital goods 1%, compensation 24%, public entities 5% and goods and services for about 39%. The allocations were informed by equitable distribution of resources but care was taken to include smaller and challenged province particularly in the Northern Cape where schools are far apart. As such it was very expensive to run tournaments or play inter-school leagues. Money had been taken from bigger spender Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to subsidise projects in the Northern Cape .
The Department would continue engaging with business to amass resources to build the sport hubs, run the school sport and hold the sports awards. Further engagements were planned with Local Government to ensure co-ordination and alignment of funding and programmes for Sport and Recreation. For the first time funding to municipalities was stopped. Generally the budget had stabilised over the MTEF and there were no longer any significant increases. Of the 25% that remained with the Department after transfer, administration costs were reduced from 47% last year December to 13 %, which had allowed the Department to do other commitments and allocate resources where they were needed most. MPP received the highest share with 62% of the total budget including transfers to provinces.
6. Public Hearing on the Budget Vote 20
The Committee called for oral submission on the 2012/13 Sport and Recreation Budget and various sport stakeholders made submissions on the Budget. The summary of the submissions follows hereunder:
6.1 South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS)
The submissions during the hearing were made by SA Drug Free Institute Board Chairman, Dr J Manjra . SAIDS received an allocation amounting to R11, 6 Million annually from the department. SAIDS had increased its capacity to conduct drug testing, especially in schools. However their priority was to ensure they promote ethical sport which will protect the credibility of our athletes during the 2012 London Olympics.
SAIDS management further submitted that due to the new paradigm shift within the anti-doping arena, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had adopted a new code. Therefore the scope of anti-doping standards have become sophisticated and necessitated that SAIDS should enhance its sports law capacity. SAIDS intended to submit proposals for amendments to the current Anti-Doping Act. Furthermore, a proposal had been submitted to the national court of arbitration in sport. They further would like to establish offices in all the nine provinces in order to fulfil their mandate nationally. Therefore SAIDS had a shortfall of R8.5 million when all costs were combined to meet the aforesaid challenges.
Therefore the Anti-Doping Agency had requested an additional amount of R2.8 million for 2012-2014. The total costs were inclusive of testing equipment, collection fees, management of results and education campaign in schools.
6.2 Boxing South Africa (BSA)
Boxing South Africa was represented at the hearings by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Moffat Qithi and Mr Mandla Hlanganani , a member of the board. He indicated that the organisation was not satisfied with the R3 million allocated to BSA by the department for financial year 2011/2012. Although the budget allocated to the BSA had increased tremendously by about 70% in comparison to the previous financial year.
The BSA had to comply with its tax obligations towards the South African Revenue Services, which was owed a huge amount of R4.5 million. The BSA still owed an amount of R1, 2 million in audit fees for the account of the Auditor General. This amount owing in audit fees had been accumulating from previous financial years. Therefore a mere 17 % of the budget allocation went towards the development of boxing and its administration. The turnaround strategy was estimated to costing amounting to R39 million.
Nonetheless, BSA management was willing to request at least an amount of R9 million from the National Treasury in order for the organisation to implement its turnaround strategy. The Department of Sport and Recreation held discussions with National Treasury with the aim of securing additional funding for Boxing South Africa. The National Treasury had since responded and turned down its request for additional funding.
7. Committee concerns and challenges
The Committee raised concern over the following:
7.1 The fact that Boxing South Africa has been receiving an annual grant of R3 million ever since it was established. The current allocation for BSA did not taking into account the current needs of the new board and its turnaround strategy.
7.2 The delay over the implementation of the Ministers flagship school sports campaign and cooperation between the Departments of Basic Education and Sport and Recreation in the implementation of a structured school sports programme in our country.
7.3 The current anti-doping legislation, which was outdated and not in line with the new code of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The current legislation failed to provide for broader powers of search and seizure, jurisdiction in schools, age of majority and consent in cases of minors participating in sports competitions.
7.4 The lack of monitoring and control of national federations which failed to comply with transformation scorecards as set up by the Department of Sport and Recreation.
7.5 The allocations given to the Love-Life programme. The R27 million allocations to Love-Life were unjustified since no tangible evidence existed to support the view that such allocations were beneficial towards sport development.
7.6 A potential conflict of interest within the Distribution Agency of the National Lotteries Board. The composition of the members of the distribution agency responsible for funding for sports was, in the main officials of numerous sports federations who were supposed to adjudicate on applications from same federations.
7.7 The substance abuse by the youth in our country, which reaffirmed the need for broader cooperation between the Department, South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS), law enforcement agencies and Department of Basic Education in order to facilitate access to schools for drug testing during sports tournaments.
8. Committees deliberations and recommendations
Having deliberated on the 2012/13 Budget Vote 20, the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation recommends as follows:
8.1 The Director General for Sport and Recreation should table quarterly progress reports to Parliament in respect of the departmental performance in the various Provinces which were beneficiaries of the DORA Grant. The Department should appoint staff personnel dedicated to all nine provinces in order to monitor the use of conditional grants for sports development.
8.2 The Department of Sport and Recreation must complete its data compilation and the audit of sports facilities within the next financial year.
8.3 The Department of Sport and Recreation should assist municipalities in the Province to improve critical skills shortages and the filling of vacant positions through sports tourism and programmes aimed at producing sports facilities managers.
8.4 The Committee expressed the view that all sports facilities had to comply with norms and standards set out in the regulations and guidelines set by the Ministry of Sport and Recreation.
8.5 National Treasury should consider increasing the baseline allocation for the Boxing South Africa (BSA) given that the turnaround strategy cannot be implemented without any form of additional funding.
8.6 National Treasury should consider increasing the baseline allocation for the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS) given the immense contribution in ensuring ethical sport reigned supreme amongst our athletes from school to high performance level.
8.7. The Department of Sport and Recreation should consider submitting legislation amending the current Anti-Doping legislation in order to strengthen the powers of SAIDS to promote its I play fair campaign.
8.8 A sports dedicated National Lottery should be created and all proceeds or revenue
collected there from be directed towards sport development programmes to emulate countries such as United States and Australia .
8.9 The Minister of Sport and Recreation in collaboration with the Minister of Trade and
Industry should find a mechanism of ensuring fair distribution of funding by the
Distribution Agency of the National Lotteries Board.
8.10 The Department needed to find a mechanism to coordinate the mass participation programmes with Sports Councils, School Governing Bodies and SA Rugby to share the costs of funds allocated for school sports.
8.11 The Department should consider encouraging all Provinces to improve the capacity of Provincial Sports Councils in order to assist such councils to perform their role of monitoring security and maintenance of sports facilities in their respective municipalities.
8.12 Notwithstanding the restructuring process, the Department must speed up the process of filling all funded posts in line with President Zumas clarion call for job creation.
9. Appreciation
The Committee would like to extend a special appreciation to the Ministry, Director General, programme managers, heads of statutory bodies and support staff for their cooperation throughout the last financial year.
10. Conclusion
Having considered the Budget Vote 20 and Strategic Plan for 2012-2016 of the Department of Sport and Recreation, the Portfolio Committee recommends that the House endorses the 2012/13 Budget Vote 20 of the Department of Sport and Recreation.
Report to be considered
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