The Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr Fikile Mbalula opened a Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) strategic planning session and announced the holding of a national sport indaba in May.
Mr Mbalula touched on the same issues in sport he identified since his appointment as Minister and that will be priorities in 2011.
He called for action on school sport, the provision of facilities, gender issues and the financing of sport, and outlined various initiatives already under way within them.
"We have had discussions with the Department of Basic Education and will be signing an agreement with them about sport in schools," the Minister said. Regarding the financing and erecting of facilities, the Minister called for the return of money earmarked for sport facilities and currently controlled by the MIG to be returned for disbursing by SRSA.
The Minister said SRSA was committed to building 98 multi-purpose sport centers during 2011/12.
He emphasised that SRSA will be engaging national partners when planning the rollout of facilities.
The Minister said the Ministry was preparing a charter for transformation in sport, and called for robust debate on the issue during the discussions.
Lastly he reiterated that the Ministry and SRSA will be ensuring that the legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is a reality and benefits the whole nation.
The planning meeting will also update SRSA's multi-year strategic plan which forms the basis of it's business and implementation plans.
Presentations made at the meeting can be downloaded here.
