Deputy Minister Nocawe Mafu: Sport, Arts & Culture Dept Budget Vote 2022/23

Speech by the Hon. Nocawe Mafu, Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts & Culture, on the occasion of the Budget Vote, Parliament of RSA, Cape Town

Chairperson
Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, the Honourable Nathi Mthethwa
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Ms B Dlulane
Honourable Members
DG and Officials of the Department
Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers of our Public Entities
Distinguished Guests
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

A year ago, when we presented our Department’s budget vote, our country was battling COVID-19 pandemic with no end in sight.

This year we meet following the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the incalculable loss of lives and livelihoods. We are well aware that our sporting and recreation facilities were not spared when looking at the overall damage to infrastructure.

As a resilient people however, we are fully committed to mobilizing all our available resources in the quest to rebuilding lives. Our thoughts and prayers are also extended to those parts of the Eastern Cape and the North West that faced similar fate, as well victims of the fires in Langa, Cape Town.

During the 2022 State of the Nation Address, the President spoke of the need to forge a social compact that would not only set this country on a growth and development path; but would also ensure that South Africa over a period is socially integrated and inclusive; and that all have a fairer chance at life.

As the President counselled, this would require a compact among and between key sectors in society so that the goal of uniting South Africa becomes the responsibility of all.

Social cohesion and nation building remains one of the apex priorities of the 6th administration and in line with the Cabinet’s mandate given to this Department as a champion of the government’s Program of Action (PoA) on social cohesion.

Part of the exercise in the first Quarter of this current financial year will be to complete the mid-term review, as per standard guidelines from DPME in terms of management of government’s priorities and outcomes.

We are happy to report that we are on course to finalizing the social compact for social cohesion and nation building, whose building blocks were provided at the 2020 social compact national convention, with subsequent engagements with other stakeholders on the same following that convention.

In making social cohesion a societal undertaking, it is important that there is One message, Many Voices and multiple platforms. In that regard, we will continue giving support, whether technical or financial, to advocacy platforms for social cohesion as created by Social Cohesion Advocates.

Social Cohesion Advocates are an independent brigade appointed by the Minister to foster cohesion at the basic level of the community. These are volunteers who utilize their passion, experience and expertise to “evangelise” about social cohesion on behalf of government. For this financial year, we are committing R15 million in support of no less than 20 advocacy platforms by our Social Cohesion Advocates.

Part of the intention however, in this new financial year is to strengthen the capacity development component in our dialogues so that communities are left with the assistive tools to sustain the dialogues beyond the initial intervention by the Department. In this financial year, we will commit R7.8 million towards the dialogue programme

Chairperson and Honourable Members, we would like you to note that as part of the Social Cohesion programme, our Department continues to be committed, to the National Strategic Plan (NSP) against GBV and Femicide. And we will continue to make a contribution to the NSP, through two of the six pillars identified in the NSP; namely:
(a) Prevention and Rebuilding Social Cohesion Pillar
(b) Response, Care, Support and Healing Pillar

Part of the strategy is not to have stand-alone interventions on GBV and femicide, but rather to also endeavour to integrate this thematic thrust across all programmes, so as to leverage on available resources for maximum impact.

We will continue focusing on hotspot areas identified by the DDM mechanism as was the case with our recent activation in Lusikisiki, in the Eastern Cape, which is cited to be one of the major hotspots in the country when it comes to GBVF.

Chairperson,we have been encouraged by the level of scrutiny given to the moral regeneration programme – looking at the number of parliamentary questions in this first half of the year alone

In terms of our obligations to the MRM, we have committed R4.5 million this current financial year – and this is a commitment in line with the 3-year Memorandum of Agreement between our Department and MRM.

The special plea is that other sectors such as the religious fraternity, organized business and civil society to also join hands with us in supporting this noble project. There are provincial chapters that need support, and this need not be financial alone.

Sport can be used as a vehicle to foster cohesion, peaceful co-existence and mutual solidarity in our communities; and thus we will spare no effort in employing sport in support of this broader national imperatives, i.e. ensuring that South Africa progressively becomes a socially integrated and inclusive society. For this to realise, transformation of this sector has to continue to top the agenda of our Department.

According the latest EPG report, the country is making some strides in transformation of the sector, although there are still some areas of concern, e.g. ongoing gender inequality in all areas and at all levels of sport. Softball can be singled out as the number 1 transformed code.

Rugby is one of the borderline cases, showing some progress but not stable. As far as cricket is concerned, the Department has intervened to stabilize governance and we are happy. There is still more work to be done though. The other codes are work in progress.

As the Department, we have noted with concern, the resistence from some quarters but we will continue to engage.

Our intention this year, is to deploy the recently launched programme of the Sport Ambassadors, to provide the necessary support to the School Sport programme. By so doing, we can accelerate the footprint of participation to reach as many schools and learners as possible.

We are also committed to working closely with the recently established, SASCOC’s Gender Commission, on gender issues and transformation as part of strengthening our transformation efforts.

Chairperson and Honourable Members, One of the country’s most significant accolades was the decision by World Netball,to grant South Africa host status for the 2023 event.This decision was taken against strong opposition,from developed countries,some of which have hosted the event before.This honour by World Netball to entrust the hosting of their most precious event to the African continent for the first time in 63 years,is one more opportunity for us to unite the country through the medium of sport.

On our side,we have committed some R30million per annum for each of the three years leading to 2023. A Board to organise the event is already in place,management staff is being appointed,broadcasters and sponsors secured,a Netball Fridays campaign is in motion - all things that point to a positive state of readiness. An Inter-Ministerial Committee(IMC) has also been formed to ensure full and comprehensive government support.

1. ACTIVE NATION

This programme has at its core,our commitment to support mass participation in sport and recreation,through the creation of access opportunities,in the form of requisite tools of trade and enabling environment to sport and club hubs,particularly in the disadvantaged communities.
Secondly,the programme deals with the important role played by school sport.

1.1 Mass Participation

The delivery of mass participation programmes presently rests with the Provincial Departments,through an annual grant from the national Department.

The Department was thankful to be able to implement the following 5 Active Recreation programmes,albeit under the strict covid-19 risk-adjusted strategy of limiting participation numbers to curb the spread of infections:-

* Move for Health
* Nelson Mandela Sport
* Arts and Culture Day
* National Recreation Day
* Big Walk and National Youth Camps

A National Youth Camp was held at each of the 9 Provinces,with attendances of no less than 200 youth,at each site.

We are also glad to have successfully held to this year’s National Indigenous Games Festival,at the Province of KwaZulu Natal - the same host province for the South African Sports Awards.

The national Department,in conjunction with the Provincial Departments,were able to utilise the Conditional Grant to see more than 300,000 people participating in sport and recreation events.

1.2 School sport

With regard to school sport,despite the limited success in driving the cooperation envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding(MOU),between my Department and the Department of Basic Education,we still managed to increase the access to sport on the part of learners,through initiatives like the National School Sport Championships.

1.3 Achievements

a) athletes participating in District Championships;
b) accommodating the participation of learners in the National School Sport Championships,with a total of 2,714 learners participating at the Bloemfontein (football, chess and tennis); Germiston (athletics) and Pretoria (swimming) and legs of competition; and
c) Allocating financial support of approximately R114m to 61 Non-profit institutions.

Additionally, the Department supported the Boxing South Africa Strategy Workshop,whose aims included the repositioning of the organisation to be attractive to new boxers, broadcasters and sponsor, creating opportunities for women boxers, preventing the exploitation of boxers and the formalising of an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with the SA National Amateur Boxing Organisation (SANABO).

2. WINNING NATION

Following the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games,Team South Africa participated in the Games,when they eventually took place in July/August 2021.

Due to several limitations including the pandemic,team preparation was not as intense as it should have been for participation at the highest level.

For the record,Team South Africa ended up winning

  • 3 medals at the Olympics in Swimming(1 X Gold and 1 X Silver) and Surfing(1 X Silver) and
  • 7 (3 X Gold;1 X Silver;2 X Bronze in Para-Athletics and 1 X Gold for Cycling),at the Paralympics.


These results placed Team SA at position 52 at the Olympics and 34 at the Paralympics.

In subsequent discussions with the SASCOC President,Mr Barry Hendricks,we all agreed that the results were not a true reflection of available local talent and to that end we committed ourselves to do all we can to evaluate the performances,identify blind spots to be better prepared for future Games.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games were followed by successes in other sports codes,including SA Rugby’s sweet victory against the British and Irish Lions,Blitzbokke winning streaks,Cricket SA’s victory against India and Football exploits through Banyana Banyana and Mamelodi Sundowns,who became the first Club in the continent to have won the Caf Champions League for both Males and Females.

3. INFRASTRUCTURE

The following achievements,nevertheless,capture our achievements in the provision of infrastructure:-

  • providing no less than 2,513 schools, hubs and clubs, with the required sports facilities and gear.
  • supported 29 municipalities through the ring-fenced MIG, at a total cost of R252 million. Furthermore, the Department’s contribution through provision of the management and technical support required to ensure compliance of the facilities with the required norms and standards, cannot be overstated.
  • delivered six outdoor gyms and children play parks, in settlements, across the country, in terms of the National Development Plan(NDP).
  • handed over outdoor gyms/children play-parks to some municipalities.
  • Launched a multi-purpose sports Court at Luthayi High School at Hammarsdale, KwaZulu-Natal, as a legacy in honour of Protea Netball Team Captain, Ms Bongi Msomi, leaving a Netball World Cup legacy in the form of Netball playing facilities.


Honourable Chairperson, I therefore humbly commend this House to pass the budget as tabled!

I thank members for their attention!

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