Honourable Chairperson,
Honourable Minister
I echo Minister Mbalula’s congratulations to all the athletes and teams that have qualified for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
We trust that our investment in their preparations will assist them to achieve the ultimate prize for any athlete; a medal at the Olympic games.
We have heard Minister Mbalula refer to the National Sport and Recreation Indaba that we hosted in November last year.
The National Sport and Recreation Indaba
The Indaba was a culmination of nine Provincial Izindaba, consultations with various Stakeholders, ranging from Business, Sponsors, Media, SASCOC, the Federations and the public at large. In the process building up to the Indaba, more than 1500 inputs were received, assisting us to finalise the discussion documents for the National Indaba. The National Sport and Recreation Indaba was undoubtedly a success!
It involved robust debates based on the documentation provided.
At the end, 75 Resolutions were formulated and accepted.
Overall consensus was reached on key issues and finally we adopted the first-ever master plan for SA sport underpinned by the declaration of intent to chart its implementation.
In short; South Africa has now for the first time in history, a National Sport and Recreation plan with unified objectives for all role-players; with sport transformation addressed in a holistic way. As expressed in Vision 20/20, the Sport and Recreation Plan also outlines the expected outcomes and ideal future for a South African sport system and landscape.
Issues Emanating from the Indaba
Although the Indaba itself has been concluded, there are a number of important matters arising to be dealt with. These are in essence a strategy dealing with the number of consequentials that emanated from the Indaba;
I refer to some:
- A review of the legal framework of the South African sport system.
- The revised role demarcation at macro level.
- To have all stakeholders’ alignment of their strategic and business plans with the National Sport and Recreation Plan.
- The signing of collaborative agreements with stakeholders that can assist with the implementation of the Plan.
- Improved institutional mechanisms including the restructuring of SRSA to ensure that we can deliver on the National Sport and Recreation Plan.
- The implementation of a clearly defined monitoring and evaluation plan.
Implementation of the Sport & Recreation Plan:
The commitment we made at the Indaba and which we wish to reiterate, is that the National Sport and Recreation Plan is a Plan of Action that will not gather dust somewhere on a shelf. I am therefore pleased to report that in the five months after the Indaba, we have already made significant progress in implementing the key focus area of the Plan for the 2012/13 financial year, that of school sport. Other areas of achievement in this short period of time include among others:
- The hosting of Indigenous Games as a tool to broaden the participation base.
- The planning of South Africa’s first Youth Games.
- Building a coaching framework for systematic capacity building in the country.
- Securing the involvement of former sport legends in various projects.
- Ensuring that government funds for sport are utilised more effectively through the development of a new funding policy framework for Federations and Sport Bodies and a focused approach.
- Lobbying the private sector to become more involved in sport and recreation activities.
- Improving the governance of sport as we have recently seen with Cricket SA.
The National Sport and Recreation Plan will be closely monitored annually to identify any obstacles which may negatively impact on implementation and it will be reviewed in its totality in 2022.
MOU with CATHSSETA
Honourable members, SRSA is in the process of signing an MOU with CATHSSETA. Against the background of National Skills Development Strategy III, we have the mutual objective of stimulating and strengthening skills development in the sport and recreation sector.
The bursary scheme that CATHSSETA will henceforth offer for Masters and Doctoral students will bind the recipients to ensure that their research is aligned to the priorities as indicated in the Sports Plan.
They will also present their results and findings of their research at our annual SASRECON conference. This conference has since been repositioned in line with this new approach.
International Relations
Minister Mbalula referred to the role we play in Africa. In the Southern Africa region, South Africa is this very week hosting the Executive Committee Meeting and Commissions’ Meeting of SCSA Zone VI.
These meetings are critical in ensuring that the Southern Africa region of the AU remains the most active and vibrant region in terms of sport development on the continent.
Our Minister has represented the country at the 2nd World Olympic Sport Convention in Moscow. He will also participate in the forthcoming 6th Commonwealth Sport Ministers Meeting in July, ahead of the official opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
We will continue to support South African sport students in Cuba currently completing their University Degrees in Physical Education and Sport.
We do this, because it will have a meaningful impact in boosting the capacity of sport administrators and physical educationists in our country.
Sport is not just about being active and winning medals. It is also about winning the war for peace and development, and to contribute to healthy lifestyles and a healthy environment.
Sport for peace and development
At its meeting in May 2011 in Geneva, South Africa was nominated as the Chair of the Thematic Working Group on Sport and Peace of the United Nation’s International Working Group.
South Africa’s appointment as Chair of this important Thematic Group can be attributed to our valuable inputs at various United Nations sessions.
At the 2nd International Forum on Sport for Peace and Development that was hosted in Switzerland in May 2011, we delivered the key note address on the theme:
“The Impact of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa”.
With South Africa as Chair of the Thematic Working Group on Sport and Peace, the Department has developed an Action Plan on sport for peace and development.
This Action Plan was distributed to all member countries for comments and inputs.
The draft Action Plan provides for the promotion of policies and programmes by national governments with the view to harness the potential of sport in contributing to the achievement of development objectives, specifically the Millennium Development Goals, Peace Keeping and Peace Building.
Drug-free sport
As mentioned by Minister Mbalula, whenever Team SA leaves our shores, our athletes serve as ambassadors of our great country.
Their awareness of the harmful effects doping can have on their health has been repeatedly addressed by our anti-doping initiatives.
They also sign a pledge and take an athlete’s oath to adhere to drug-free participation and ethical practices. We thus maintain very high standards and integrity when it comes to fair play.
As the next host of the World Anti-Doping Conference of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 2013, we take pride in setting an example of fair play.
The conference will among others, emerge with a revised World Anti-Doping Code - the policy document that harmonises anti-doping policies and practices across all sports and all countries.
South Africa has, since the inception of WADA, shown total support for anti-doping and the World Anti-doping Code.
The country is a signatory to the Copenhagen Declaration on anti-doping in sport and has ratified the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport.
South Africa has represented Africa at both the WADA Executive Committee and Foundation Board. In fact, Minister Mbalula is serving as a member of the WADA Executive Committee in 2012 and our Ministry will be participating in the forthcoming WADA Executive Meeting in Mid-May, as a Full Member.
The country has also led Africa in the implementation of anti-doping strategies and annually contributes more financially than it is invoiced, that in order to cover for poor African countries that are not able to pay their annual WADA fees, thus demonstrating our spirit of good neighbourliness and ubuntu.
We wish to applaud our public entity, the South African Institute of Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) for leading the fight against doping in our country. Their ‘I Play Fair Campaign’ has seen a number of people taking to the streets on their bicycles to make a statement that doping in sport cannot be and should not be the way of life.
Minister Mbalula’s active participation in the campaign, culminating in participation in the Argus Cycle Tour, was for us a way of saying No to Doping and also setting an example to both the young and old, namely; that participation in sport and recreation, is an enjoyable way to a healthy lifestyle.
He will also be riding the 94.7 cycle challenge in Johannesburg for the ‘I Play Fair’ team later this year.
Good governance
While we are now doing even better than before to set developmental frameworks in place and create a pool of quality athletes for our national teams, we depend on our federations subscribing to the principles of good governance.
The recent developments within Cricket South Africa, where we had to appoint a Committee of Enquiry to investigate the affairs of that federation, is an example that where things fall apart, we will not shy away from intervening to ensure that the centre holds.
It is however time consuming and costly to be intervening in federations when they should be fully practicing good governance for the good of the sport they run.
Under the leadership of Judge Chris Nicholson, the Committee investigated issues of contention within Cricket SA and once finalised, their report was submitted to the Ministry and Cricket SA. In the name of transparency and the right to know, the report was released to the public by the Committee and the Ministry. After careful consideration of the observations and recommendations, we made our stance known through a media briefing at the time.
I join the Minister in thanking the Judge and his Committee for sterling work and good service. Their Report is not only for the good of Cricket, but to that of Sport in general.
Last week, after a meeting with CSA, our way forward was made known in a media briefing. Amongst the main measures taken, we have agreed that Cricket SA will recover any undue bonuses paid out to its officials; it will pursue criminal charges for contravention of the Companies Act; and it will review its governance structure and procedures to be inline with the best practices accepted internationally.
Sport infrastructure
Athlete support centres
SRSA has, through the DORA Grant framework, introduced an allocation of 3.5% of the total 2012/13 grant towards the development and sustainability of district academies. The allocation will be transferred to provincial departments of sport and recreation.
As the system aims to address the demographics of our national teams by accelerating the development of talented athletes particularly from the disadvantaged groups, it is envisaged that the district academies be aligned to political district demarcations and be placed in previously disadvantaged areas to ensure that disadvantaged sportspersons have access to services rendered at the academies.
It is therefore foreseen that 53 Regional Sports Hubs will serve as feeders to the nine existing provincial academies.
The main aim of a district academy system is to take technical, scientific and medical support services to the sporting community i.e. athletes, coaches, administrators and technical officials.
The services are coach driven and athlete-centred with the purpose of creating a structured performance pathway for talented athletes, coaches, administrators and technical officials residing in the region.
Sport and environment
The Sport, Environment and Climate Change Seminar was hosted by SRSA in November 2011. This was organised as a side-event to COP17. We must acknowledge the good work done by international sport bodies such as the IOC and FIFA in this regard.
We must also thank SASCOC and our national federations, Cycling SA, Motorsport SA, and the South African Confederation of Cue Sports for presenting their case studies on the good work they have done.
As a sport sector, we have made a firm commitment to Government’s strategy on Sport and the Environment.
Conclusion
Honourable Members, Minister Mbalula and I are batting on and for the same team. We have reported to you in an open, honest, complementary, holistic and complete a manner as possible.
We trust that you receive our report in the same spirit that it has been presented.
We trust that you will also apply your minds to the information, and when questions are asked, that you bear in mind that whatever activities we undertake as politicians, must not be narrowed down to just a narrow and individual political agenda.
We cannot reduce the value and impact of our sport related activities to a few narrow concerns. The impact of sport and recreation activities and the programmes on social cohesion, nation building, personal fitness and the health and wellness of our people outweigh by far the financial investment we are making in them.
So; if we travel to achieve; we do so with permission and passion; that in a quest to deliver a better life for all.
I thank you for your attention!
