Pretoria – Over 1.3 million households across the country are now enjoying live boxing matches following the return of the sport on the small screen.
The Department of Sport and Recreation has invested approximately R11 million in the rollout of the Boxing is Back initiative.
Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula on Friday said his department followed an open tender process to solicit the services of credible and capable boxing promoters - registered and licensed by Boxing South Africa - to deliver on bankable and television-ready tournaments.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has invested additional resources in the purchase of broadcasting rights in this regard.
“Boxing has returned to tv. Live boxing matches across the provinces of our country have been featured on SABC as our media partner in promoting the sport of boxing. We are even more proud that over seven of our nine provinces have been reached.
“To date, Boxing is Back broadcasts and the programme TKO on SABC have reached over 1.3 million households, giving access to our people to watch their sport. This has presented opportunities of revenue generation for Boxing South Africa,” said Minister Mbalula.
Presenting the department’s 2015/16 Budget Vote last month, Minister Mbalula announced that boxing will be back on tv.
He said the initiative was intended to address the challenge of a sport that experienced a huge blackout and was held at ransom by a few individuals who sought to only enrich themselves at the expense of the sport as a whole.
“We sought to bring back boxing from the doldrums of this blackout and return it to its glory. We had to pick up the pieces and developed a turnaround strategy that we publicly punted and canvassed.”
In continuance of the objective of bringing the sport loved by millions of people to screens at home, the Minister said the department will continue with the rollout of this programme in the 2016/17 financial year, starting with the North West edition on 27 May 2016 at the James Motlatsi Stadium in Orkney.
“We are committed, willing and ready to take professional boxing one notch higher and to further mobilise sponsors to support this sport to grow along the international trends in both purse monies and also in stature of the code.
“We are in negotiations with a potential sponsor for belts and our broadcast strategy has been harmonised with that of the two leading broadcasters in our country. We have further finalised our outlook for the title and key tournament sponsorship packages.
“This programme will be rolled out on a continuous basis and on a rotational basis to all the nine provinces of our country based on government’s procurement framework. Through this programme, we have over the last year alone managed to achieve in excess of five international titles, both continental and global.
“The work of producing champions of the world from our country will continue, with identified professional talent being supported and incubated at our National Training Centre based in Bloemfontein,” the Minister said.
Boxing SA CEO appointment
Minister Mbalula also announced the appointment of Tsholofelo Lejaka as the new Chief Executive Officer of Boxing South Africa.
The Board of Boxing South Africa has also appointed Thabang Moses as the Chief Financial Officer and Sabelo Silinga as the Director: Operations.
“All major vacancies within the entity have been filled. This will give the entity a strong foothold on which it can propel itself forward,” the Minister said. - SAnews.gov.za
