Presidents' Council meeting of the South African Sports Confederation and
Olympic Committee (SASCOC)
25 August 2006
The MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Ms Barbara Creecy
The President of SASCOC, Mr Moss Mashishi
Mr Sam Ramsamy
Members of the President's Council
Mr Buthana Kompela and MPs
Ladies and gentlemen
It is my honour and pleasure to address you at this, the annual gathering of
the Presidents of our National Federations; under the leadership of South
African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee. This is the highest
gathering of sports leaders from the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector
that represents the millions of sportsmen and women. You are the people who
must shape the future of sport. In your hands lie the dreams of our athletes
and the hopes of our nation.
You must provide opportunity for the ordinary club player, who only
participates for the love of the game every Saturday or Sunday. You have an
obligation to identify, develop and nurture the talent in order for athletes to
reach their optimal potential. We demand that, so that the best can excel on
the international stage.
A few months ago, one of our leading sports scientists made an analysis of
the shape of sport in South Africa. As we know his verdict was that we were on
a downward spiral in most codes of sport. On Friday, 9 June 2006, our President
devoted his weekly column to comment on the state of sport in the country.
President Mbeki also referred to the performance of our teams and when
referring to our absence from the 2006 Federation of International Football
Association (FIFA) World Cup and our performance in the African Cup of nations
he said: (it) "sounded alarm bells about the state of soccer in our country and
sports in general." But at the same time the President recognised the need for
us to make more resources available for sport if we are serious about the
institution. I have read in the newspapers that there will be two protests at
the test match at Loftus Versveld tomorrow:
One group led by the Freedom Front protesting against government
interference in sport and another group protesting against the lack of
transformation in rugby. This scenario, ladies and gentlemen, represents the
reality of sport in South Africa today. It is really an indictment on all of us
that 12 years after freedom we still have divisions of this nature in our
society. The question that must be posed here is where the leadership present
in this room stand on this matter. But more important, what do we intend to do
about the situation.
I do not have to tell you where government stands on the issue of
transformation. In an interview with Supersport last Saturday, President Mbeki
made it clear that sport has NOT sufficiently transformed. It is often the big
federations that bear the brunt of public outcry about transformation; but we
are aware that many of the "smaller federations" have made almost no progress
on this front. We are also aware that some federations have made great strides
despite serious obstacles of equipment and other barriers.
We fully agree with SASCOC when they say that we must take the emotion out
of the argument when we talk about transformation. We must make a sober
assessment of what is required to effect transformation in each sport and we
must find the resources to implement the plans. Our Ministry has taken the
approach that says that we need to get the foundation right. To this end we
have this year spent more that R86 million on schools sport and almost R80
million on our community Mass Participation Programme.
Through our School Mass Participation Programme we will be developing at
least six codes of sport in 798 of the poorest schools in the country. In other
words, we are creating opportunities and access to sport and in sport. This is
the only way in which we can broaden the base of participation. Cabinet has
recently approved the Sport and Recreation Amendment Bill, which has now been
referred to Parliament. The Bill is intended to amend the national Sport and
Recreation Act, 1998.
The object of this legislation is to align itself with the new governance
structures of sport in South Africa. It provides for the deletion of the South
African Sports Commission, the National Olympic Committee of South Africa
(NOCSA) and other structures that have been closed down and recognise SASCOC as
the only non-governmental macrostructure for sport in SA. The Bill also confers
certain responsibilities that used to reside under NOCSA, on SASCOC. One of the
most important shortcomings in the governance of sport in SA has been the fact
that the Minister of Sport and Recreation had been given responsibility for
sport and recreation but was not given the authority to carry out that
responsibility.
To date the Minister of Sport and Recreation had to depend on the goodwill
and support of federations to carry out this responsibility. This bill seeks to
address this shortcoming. It gives the Minister power to:
* intervene in any dispute, alleged mismanagement, or any other related
matter in sport and recreation which is likely to bring sport and recreational
activity into disrepute
* issue directives
* issue guidelines or policies to promote equity, representivity and redress in
sport and recreation
* make regulations on various sport and recreation matters.
The Minister will of course not interfere in the selection of teams and of
administrators, technical officials and the like. The bill prohibits this. The
federations and its members must select the teams! The Minister has the
responsibility to ensure good and responsible governance of Sport and
Recreation in this country. We have seen many examples of malpractices and poor
governance of national federations over the past few years. Surely we cannot
have a situation where officials of federations can destroy a sport and have a
Minister who can do nothing about it. Sport belongs to the nation; it is an
integral part of our way of life, of our South African culture over which
government with its elected representatives has a serious responsibility.
We do not subscribe to the view that sport is a holy cow that must be left
untouched. Our sport must be reflective of the type of society we want in our
country. It must make us proud as a nation.
We are mindful of the position of international sporting bodies with regard
to "government's interference" in sport. This Bill does not in any way suggest
that government will interfere in sport and recreation. In fact I am sure that
it is the wish of every international body that its members exercise good
governance and it is expected of every responsible Minister to ensure that this
is the case. We intend to do just that. We see this Bill as an important piece
of legislation and we urge all national federations to participate in the
public hearings that the Portfolio Committee will be hosting during the first
week of September.
In conclusion I would like to express government's unequivocal support for
SASCOC. The establishment of SASCOC was a result of Cabinet's endorsement of
the (MTT) Mobile Training Team recommendations. We salute the leadership of
NOCSA, South African Commonwealth Games Association (SACGA) and the South
African Sports Commission for the way you have accepted the re-alignment of the
macrostructures of sport. We urge those that are still resisting the change to
come on board.
We know that SASCOC had some teething problems over the past year, but we
are confident that the leadership of the organisation will turn the ship
around. The announcement that you will hear tomorrow will surely reflect the
significant steps that have been taken in this regard. SASCOC cannot fail,
SASCOC will not fail. As was said many times over the past two years, this is
the last chance for us to get sports right in South Africa. There is no turning
back. Let us all go out and make it work, for a better tomorrow in this great
country.
I thank you.
Issued by: Sport and Recreation South Africa
25 August 2006
Source: Sport and Recreation South Africa (http://www.srsa.gov.za)
