G Oosthuizen: Sport essential for AsgiSA and JIPSA

5 June 2006

“Sport can contribute to the AsgiSA and the associated JIPSA,” the Deputy
Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr Gert Oosthuizen, recently told captains of
the business and sports sectors at the launch of the SuperSport Executive
Programme, held at Wits University, Johannesburg.

The SuperSport Executive Programme is aimed specifically at producing
skilled sport administrators and managers in collaboration with Wits
University. It is therefore hoped that the programme will bridge the gap of
skilled and knowledgeable people for the effective and efficient management of
sport and recreation in South Africa. “The project will serve as a catalyst to
integrate disparate initiatives within the sector. Sport is still being
trivialised in our country. It is regarded as frivolous and unimportant even
though it is a multi-billion Rand industry. It contributes more than 2% to
South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and occupies the time, and forms
part of the psyche of the majority of the country’s people.”

At a launch also attended by Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and
various captains of business and sport, the Deputy Minister said that “Sport
and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) is already involved in initiatives in
support of AsgiSA and JIPSA, but it has always been our contention that
Government alone cannot cover “all the bases” in terms of the delivery of sport
and recreation products to the nation. We, therefore, welcome the involvement
of the private and NGO sectors, and we congratulate SuperSport on their
resourcefulness.”

He said the White Paper on Sport and Recreation, the Department’s policy
document, identified in the shortcomings in sport. These range from a lack of
appreciation for the role that sport can play in our society, to the lack of
participation by the majority of our country’s people in physical activity and
the lack of resources needed for ensuring such involvement. “The steady growth
in our budget attests to the fact that Government is committed to Sport and
Recreation. Despite this, we are not on par with the developed world, with whom
we compete. They also see the potential of sport and recreation for achieving
significant socio-economic outcomes,” said the Deputy Minister.

To derive all the benefits sport has to offer, Deputy Minister Oosthuizen
emphasised that the Department needs three things:
* infrastructure: organisations, programmes, facilities, equipment and
kit
* human resources: sufficient thereof, of good quality and with an appropriate
disposition
* finance: that underpins both; Infrastructure and Human Resources.

“Our aim, eventually, is to ensure that no child has to walk more than five
kilometres to access an activity hub anywhere in South Africa. We would like to
see the establishment of at least one hub in every ward in every municipality
across South Africa. That means that there will eventually be more than 3800
hubs.”

“The Department’s Mass Participation Programme positions our sector well to
also make a contribution to AsgiSA. We have so far recruited and trained 353
unemployed, young people in the programme. We have also trained 825 young
volunteers in sport and recreation administration, 1 399 entry level coaches,
923 referees, 977 administrators, 365 life skills counsellors, 424 events
managers, 663 first aiders and a number of learn-to-swim instructors.” He added
that while some of our trained recruits to more lucrative jobs in the private
sector, the Department draws satisfaction from the contribution that we are
making toward ensuring more rewarding and sustainable employment for them. This
must contribute toward accelerated growth in the country, not only from the
perspective of employment creation, but also from the point of view of
contributing to the development of more useful and productive citizens from
amongst our youth, the most vulnerable constituency in our society.

Furthermore, the Community Club Development programme provides a bridge
between the MPP and formal clubs of the federations. “This programme is
three-phased. It will allow for education, training and employment
opportunities that can also contribute to AsgiSA. We have also entered into an
agreement with the Department of Education on school sport. We know, that in
the right-sizing exercise that accompanied the efforts to create equity in the
public school system, physical education and school sport suffered. We have
agreed with Education to re-introduce school sport and physical education.

He concluded that the Department would assume responsibility for school
sport and Education for physical education. “We also know that major investment
is required to train, re-train and reintroduce programmes into the schools. If
we consider the number of schools that we have in this country, some 28 000,
the potential exists for creating at least 56 000 jobs if only one person is
employed for physical education for boys and one for girls per school.”

Issued by: Sport and Recreation South Africa
5 June 2006