The Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation will inject R132.076 million into sport for the 2012/13 financial year.
The department will give priority to the following areas:
- School sport
- Club development
- Competitive sport.
The focus of the department will be to consolidate the Province’s position is a preferred destination for major sporting events. Key events that the province will host: SA Golf Open, Cup of Nations, Future Champions and the Gauteng Sport challenge.
The Gauteng Sport Challenge is the province’s signature event aimed at showcasing Gauteng’s sporting prowess. This will include PSL clubs that are Gauteng based.
A Gauteng Rugby benefit will also be hosted involving our major rugby teams.
There will also be a launch of the Gauteng Marathon. The marathon will feature races ranging from 5, 10, 21, and 42 kilometres. Mogale City and the City of Johannesburg will host the Gauteng Marathon. An allocation of R10 million is set aside for the initiative.
R33 million has been allocated through the national Division of Revenue Grant to facilitate the school sport projects in partnership with the Gauteng Department of Education during the 2012/13 financial year. The Top Schools League Project will form a major part of the school sport delivery this year, introducing five core sporting codes including Athletics, Netball, Football, Rugby and Cricket and later extending it with another six additional codes, Volleyball, Basketball, Chess, Gymnastics, Tennis and Aquatics.
Through our Sport Development programme, we have set aside R16 million in order to facilitate access for those clubs that are not in the mainstream. Our focus will be in women’s football, netball, rugby, athletics – specifically field events and hurdles, including tennis, pool, swimming and sport for people with disabilities.
We are working with federations to implement a South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) aligned Sport Academy Programme focusing on the 7 priority codes. The 7 federations are responsible for identifying talented athletes through their competition programmes and coaching clinics.
The athletes take part in provincial competitions and are then placed in a high performance programme where they are taken through a holistic development and coach driven approach. This project receives R2.4 million.
The department is strengthening its development trajectory to ensure that we spur the competitive area into greater heights
For media inquiries contact:
Nino Zama
Cell: 083 554 1971
E-mail: nino.zama@gauteng.gov.za
