Pretoria - Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula says he will continue to drive the transformation process in various sporting codes.
“Transformation is an integral part of our programme of action during this term and beyond. We have entered the second phase of the transformation process after a successful pilot.
“We are now setting targets agreed mutually between the Eminent Group of Persons (EPG) on transformation and the federations.
“We will not back down on this important matter. This is a national imperative and we will implement the transformation charter and its accompanying scorecard to the very end,” he said.
Minister Mbalula was tabling his Budget Vote Speech in Parliament on Tuesday.
He said despite the transformation scorecard, which highlights different elements such as governance as part of transformation, public discussions have always degenerated to simple equation of colour and quotas.
The National Development Plan (NDP) stipulates that participation in each sporting code should begin to reflect the demographics of the country.
“Over the past 20 years, our country’s transformation initiatives in sport have proven to be mostly ineffectual. Over simplistic and ‘quick fix’ strategies essentially focused on demographic change at the highest representative levels.
“One-dimensional demographically based processes ignored the need for a multi-dimensional approach based on cause and effectprinciples to bring about meaningful change,” he said.
New National Sport Leagues
Minister Mbalula was pleased to report progress registered by the Netball Premier and National Basketball Leagues.
“Basketball is currently underway in its second season, while netball has recently concluded its first season.
“We have now commenced the scoping exercises of establishing a Volleyball Premier League and will engage the South African Hockey Association to consider the creation of the National Professional Hockey League,” he said.
Grant allocations
Minister Mbalula said the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) grant allocations are: R526 million for 2014/15; R550 million for 2015/16; and R579 million for 2016/17.
“Using 2012/13 as an example of audited allocations and spending, the department allocated and transferred R469.6 million of grant funds to provinces.
“Of the total available of R473 million (including provincial roll-overs of R3.8 million), R444.8 million (94%) was spent.
“The spending related to the training of 7 405 educators for the school sport programme; hosting of 33 mass mobilisation campaigns, and the participation of 2 900 758 people in school sport, community hubs and clubs from schools, districts, provincial and national level,” he said.
Catching them young
Minister Mbalula said school sport is the bedrock of the entire sport development continuum.
In 2011, the minister emphasised the need to transform school sport from just an extramural activity, into a core element of the school curriculum.
“Currently, there are about 24 000 schools in South Africa, constituted by about 12.2 million learners. Of these schools, 18 786 are registered to participate in the league system.
“As a department, we intend to set aside 25% of our budget, which is approximately R400 million for schools sport development,” he said.
Following on the success of the school sport league system, Minister Mbalula said the option of introducing a University Sports Cup and supporting leagues will be explored.
He said this will provide a clear developmental pathway for talented athletes as they leave school. - SAnews.gov.za
