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Date : 20/05/2003
Source: Ministry of Sport and Recreation
Title: Balfour: Sport and Recreation Dept Budget Vote 2003/2004, NCOP


SPORT AND RECREATION BUDGET SPEECH - VOTE 20 - TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES BY THE MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION, BMN BALFOUR, 20 May 2003

THE TIDE HAS TURNED! THE ROLE OF SPORT AND RECREATION IN BUILDING A PEOPLE'S CONTRACT FOR A BETTER SOUTH AFRICA

Madam Chairperson
Honourable Members

At this historic moment in our society's development, this is my fourth budget speech delivered in this august House. Not only are we on the brink of our third democratic elections after the end of this financial year, we are also on the verge of entering the second decade of freedom from apartheid domination.

Madam Chairperson

I am introducing a budget of R225,762 million, the largest ever for sport and recreation, to this House today. It represents significant growth relative to when I first assumed this portfolio. While it represents a satisfying 275% increase compared to the 1998/99 budget, it is still not nearly enough for what is needed to place our country on an even footing with our traditional adversaries in sport. Moreover, the major part of the budget, R129 million, comprises an allocation from the Poverty Relief, Infrastructure Creation and Job Summit pool that could be transferred to the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) as part of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) at the end of this financial year. That will result in a 53% decline in the budget over which we will have direct control.

For this year, however, with the Building for Sport and Recreation Programme allocation removed, the remaining R96, 262 million is split up as follows:

Programme 1: Administration R18 187 000
Programme 2: Policy, Funding and Liaison R78 075 000

With regard to Programme 2, the amount available for sports development amounts to R44 million. That gives an indication of how under-funded sport really is.

I am, however, firmly of the opinion, despite setbacks every now and again, that the tide has, indeed, turned for us in sport and recreation. While I sometimes have to lament the slow pace of change in sport, I am convinced that the imminent release of the "Sports Transformation Charter" will bring us back on course to ensure rapid movement from the entrenched racial, gender and spatial rigidities of the past and, indeed, turn the tide into a flood. I am happy to note significant progress in the representative profiles of certain sports. I have so far resisted the option of legislating on sports transformation, offering national federations instead, to reconsider their own options for driving the initiative in their structures. We must transform; there is no alternative. If, however, we fail to make progress, I will have to reconsider my options. Sport has in the past been at the forefront of transformation in our country. I cannot allow that advantage, the moral high ground that we once occupied, to be lost. That would amount to a betrayal of the many who have dedicated so much, some even their lives, to the cause of ensuring a fair dispensation for all in sport. National Federations often accuse their provincial affiliates of letting them down in the transformation initiative. I trust that this House will influence the provinces to fulfil their obligations in this respect.

The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup has come and gone and has meant a lot to our society! While the performances of the Proteas in the competition were disappointing to local supporters, the tournament itself was a resounding success and I want to congratulate the Organising Committee. I want to, especially, single out the support, which they obtained from the provincial and local authorities without whose assistance; the competition would never have been able to take place. The cooperation that prevailed between the three spheres of government and the private sector presents a model that should be emulated in similar endeavours that we may embark on in future. The 2010 Soccer World Cup Bid should draw on it. I want to extend a special word of congratulations also to the mayors of cities who hosted fund raising banquets to support charities of their choice. These were certainly noble gestures that serve to prove how sport and sports events can be used to leverage resources for other causes. The socio-economic benefits of the Cricket World Cup have also proven that sport can contribute significantly to addressing the major challenges that we face as a country. The consequences of the huge influx of spectators from abroad has assisted us as a department and as an institution generally, to address one of the major challenges of our times in South Africa, that of job-creation and poverty relief. It is estimated that about 20 000 foreign spectators visited our shores to watch the Cricket World Cup first hand. That translates into close to 3 500 jobs. Initial estimates indicate the economic benefits of the event amount to some R1 billion. It proves that sport has a role to play in pushing back the frontiers of poverty.

We recently, hosted a successful conference on developing a strategy for bidding for and hosting major, international sports events. The conference was well attended by representatives of local and provincial authorities. I am happy to confirm that we reached consensus about approaching bids in an orderly fashion to ensure that we develop the capacity, incrementally, to host larger and more complex events to enable us, eventually, to present the biggest spectacle of world sports, the Olympic Games, some time in the future. During the conference we committed ourselves to prioritise bids to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and to give consideration to the 2020 Olympic Games. Of course, events take place in cities and towns and local and provincial authorities have a critical role to play in any international event that we plan to host. I am encouraged by the trend in certain national federations to host some of their international events in cities and towns that do not often have such opportunities. The last two Davis Cup matches that were hosted in Nelspruit and Polokwane, respectively, the World Shooting Championships in Limpopo, and the Bafana Bafana games in Port Elizabeth and East London are examples of these.

We have now confirmed and launched our domestic bid to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Government has expressed its support for the bid and will make sure that it provides all the guarantees that FIFA require. This time we are sure that it is Africa's turn, as FIFA has approved the rotation system last year and our continent will start the process. South Africa will be up against Nigeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco in the race to host the competition. While we are quietly confident, we will not underestimate our African counterparts. Again, the local and provincial spheres of government are the cornerstones of both the bidding and hosting process. The support of this House for both processes will, therefore, be critical. Cabinet has set up an inter-ministerial committee with Deputy President Jacob Zuma as convenor and myself as deputy convenor to oversee government's input into the process. The bid committee has also been invited to make a formal presentation to the inter-ministerial committee in due course.

Thursday heralds the launch of the international campaign of the bid when our national team plays England in an international match in Durban. I am sure that members have concerns about a number of issues relating to this match that have dominated the media over the past few days. I shared those concerns and had an urgent meeting with SAFA and the Bid Company officials upon their return to the country. The national coach and the national team manager also attended this meeting. By now, you will be aware that all parties concerned have reached agreement on the match for Thursday and on future matches requested by the Bid Company. It is now important that we focus on the bigger picture and that is to rally broad support for hosting the 2010 World Cup in our country.

From a departmental perspective, we regard our Building for Sport and Recreation Programme (BSRP) as our flagship. It also constitutes an area through which we are cooperating the closest with the local, regional and provincial authorities. At this stage, there is not yet clarity on whether Building for Sport and Recreation will continue to be a stand-alone programme, or whether it will become part of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG). Cabinet took a decision to consolidate all infrastructure creation projects under the MIG but National Treasury is still in the process of auditing the BSRP with a view to making a recommendation on its continued, independent existence. I would, of course, like to see that the programme remains with my department. Municipalities have many other priorities on which to deliver. Sports facilities, we have established, do not feature high up on their agenda. I am of the opinion that we will face strenuous challenges in competing for MIG funds as sport and recreation facilities tend not to be priorities for local authorities, given the many other pressing, basic needs that they have to cater for. I will, therefore, engage my colleagues in Cabinet to retain the project in my Department, failing which, I want to ensure that an amount is ring-fenced for facility-creation and upgrading to guarantee that we do not fall further behind on this important project that is aimed directly at improving the quality of life of our citizens. Our impact extends well beyond the creation or upgrading of facilities; it also includes the skills that we transfer to the people that we give employment to. It makes them more saleable in the tough job market, while the community Sports Councils and Clubs that we establish and the empowerment of local councils in managing the sports facilities that we build, further contribute to the empowerment initiative. We also try to foster an entrepreneurial spirit in the communities in which we build facilities by encouraging informal trading where and when sports events take place. We have also commenced, and will continue to use the project for making sports' contribution to the process of symbolic reparation by naming the facilities that we build and upgrade, after fallen heroes in the areas where we build.

Our BSRP commands a budget of R129 million in the coming financial year. 113 projects have been identified that will be spread as follows across the country:

Western Cape: R 8.71 million for 13 facilities
Eastern Cape: R 22.08 million for 25 facilities
KwaZulu-Natal: R23.016 million for 17 facilities
Mpumalanga: R 9.91 million for 12 facilities
Gauteng: R 10.8 million for 10 facilities
Limpopo: R 19.2 million for 9 facilities
North West: R 10.25 million for 10 facilities
Free State: R 9.66 million for 15 facilities
Northern Cape: R 6.57 million for 2 facilities

We will build in communities as diverse as Ngqamakwe in the Eastern Cape, Petrus Steyn in the Free State, Boipatong in Gauteng, Umvoti in KwaZulu-Natal, Machado in Mpumalanga, Ga-Segonyana in the Northern Cape and Nduli in the Western Cape.

I would like to implore the provinces and municipalities involved to ensure that we deliver timeously on these projects. We must extend the building phase of the project during which people in the communities concerned have access to employment, the primary purpose of this exercise. In the past, the building phase was squeezed into three months, limiting the period for employment. Despite this, we have managed to provide jobs and pay more than 6 500 people an average of more than R4 500 during the building phases of the projects over the past two years. Over the past ten years we have managed to spend some R450 million in total on building and upgrading facilities around South Africa. While that has started to make a difference in people's lives, it constitutes less than 10% of the estimated, existing shortfall in facility provision in disadvantaged communities. Moreover, we must start to build more than just basic facilities in the areas where our people live. How, for example, can we ensure representativity in swimming teams, an important consideration in the transformation initiative, when we have no swimming pools in disadvantaged communities?

We launched our Letsema Campaign on 3 February 2003 in Cape Town by cleaning up the Langa Stadium with generous help from school children in the community. We trust that the launch will provide the impetus for similar efforts in communities around the country to afford our communities greater access to participation in sport and recreation.

Sport and Recreation South Africa has been identified to play a leading role with regard to implementing a "People's Contract for Moral Regeneration". Our various projects, some of which are already up and running, are aimed at the youth, especially those in the high crime nodes. The launch of our "Young Champions" project took place in Mamelodi on 18 January 2003, to which we attracted more than 2 000 participants and involved a cross section of national, provincial, and community organisations. We will launch the project in all the remaining provinces in due course, the next being in Cape Town. The programme is aimed at setting up sustainable local sports leagues in the areas identified, into which young people can be drawn with a view, not only of ensuring that they participate in wholesome sport and recreation activities, but also to enable us to identify talented players that can be channelled into the competitive mainstream. While the broad context of our project is of course, urban renewal, integrated, sustainable rural development and social crime prevention, our purpose with this initiative is at least two-fold:

* On the one hand, the focus is on addressing the problems of substance abuse, including problems related to the misuse of alcohol and other substances, while on the other,
* It is aimed at generating social cohesion that will serve in a preventative capacity, to address some of the challenges that we face as a nation.

Madam Chairperson, Honourable Members

One of the issues that has stood out as a sore thumb for me during interventions with stakeholders in sport and recreation and also from my own assessment of the situation, is the slow progress with regard to ensuring equity for women in the sports dispensation in our country. Women and Sport South Africa (WASSA) has had its flaws, and is currently dormant. I have, accordingly, decided to re-allocate the responsibility to the SASC where a Commissioner has been identified to champion the cause. I have given them a mandate, clear guidelines and targets for progressing this important priority of government in which we, as sport, once again, provide a visible face of progress in this regard in our society. It is a challenge that we all face and one that I hope we can live up to in future.

I am happy to announce to this House that I have reached an agreement with my colleague, the Minister of Education, Prof Kader Asmal, on school sport. Our respective departments are working on the details, but in essence we have agreed that the Department of Education will take full responsibility for the curricular aspects of sport, including physical education, as well as the extra-curricular programme of the school. My department and the provincial departments responsible for sport, in partnership with the national and provincial federations, will be responsible for all competitive and representative school sport programmes. Moreover, National Treasury has notified me that from next year onwards, resources for the LoveLife Games will be channelled through my Department. These developments will go a long way to not only consolidate the vexing question of resourcing school sport, but will ensure that this important component of the overall sports development continuum is properly aligned.

I am very well aware that certain schools refuse to introduce soccer to their sports programmes. This is done under the pretext that they do not have facilities for soccer, that there is no interest in soccer or that they do not have coaches. But these same schools have numerous playing fields for other codes of sport and in fact, pay coaches in sports such as hockey, rugby and cricket. I want to appeal to such institutions that are preventing children with interests in these activities from developing their skills, to reconsider their stance. After all, soccer is the country's national sport.

Madam Chairperson, Honourable Members

This brings me to a major theme of my budget speech for the 2003/04 financial year; one that I have dedicated my entire tenure to, namely transformation in sport.

I have already referred to the extent to which sport is a visible reflection of the progress that we are making in transformation in our society, generally. I am of the view that the image that we present at the moment, especially in terms of representativity, is not a good one. Surely, this must be an indictment on all of us who are committed to a new South Africa based on inclusiveness, equality and fairness.

The transformation agenda has, and will remain a priority for the rest of my term of office. I remain dedicated to that cause. As I have said before, this matter is a non-negotiable aspect of the South African transformation agenda. I will never compromise on that. What I have become aware of through the various consultative workshops on transformation that we have held around the country is that the initiative enjoys overwhelming, grassroots support. This is what counts for me. The "Transformation Charter" will be the culmination of an exercise that is taking me around the country, consulting with people at the grassroots level. I will be concluding my programme of "transformation Imbizos" in each of the provinces during this year. National Federations have agreements with government with regard to development, transformation and representivity that I expect them to honour. I shall be watching their performances relative to the proposed Transformation Charter, very closely. As I have said earlier, I have taken cognisance and laud the efforts of certain federations that have committed themselves to the cause and whose teams are reflecting our society more adequately.

With the Super 12 in rugby just completed, our national team now goes into preparation mode for Test matches against Scotland and Argentina, followed by the Tri-Nations series. These matches will prepare them for the Rugby World Cup later this year. In mentioning this, I want to reiterate that as government, we have never forced national federations to implement the quota system in national teams. This applies to rugby in the same way as it applies to cricket and any other code. But this does not imply that all-white national teams will ever take the field as representative of our people. That will be unacceptable and would mean that transformation within sport would have failed. I will be meeting with rugby soon to receive an update on their programmes. Earlier today, cricket made a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation in the National Assembly on their position on transformation. Members will recall that I appointed a Committee of Inquiry into cricket claims that the sport has transformed sufficiently, allowing them to move away from the quota system. I have had that report for a while and will be acting on it. The UCBSA have consistently displayed their reluctance to meet with MECs on the report. As Members of this House, you have a specific interest in and responsibility to your respective provinces. I want to invite you to engage the provincial cricket authorities on the contents of this report and to test the validity of the claims made by the UCBSA. It is important that you engage ordinary South Africans in our cities, towns and rural communities on whether they agree with and support the claims made by the UCBSA.

Madam Chairperson

The process involving the Ministerial Task Team into High Performance Sport has progressed beyond the reporting stage. I have instructed an "Implementation Task Team" to look into the practical implications of the report. They have submitted their report to me. I will be informing Cabinet about the proposed course of action shortly. The latter report, that also has other far-reaching consequences for sport and recreation in South Africa, proposes the streamlining of the governance of the institution in South Africa to ensure that we optimally utilize the limited resources that we have at our disposal for this purpose. At the same time, it recommends that we prioritise those sports that can contribute more substantially to improving our international performances, and those that can increase the number of active participants, the pool from which we hope to draw future champions. The prioritised list, comprising approximately twelve to fifteen sports in each category, will receive more substantial resource allocation from government, with a view to ensuring the impact that we expect of them. Of course, there can never be sufficient resources for achieving the levels of success that we would like to see, but the proposed strategy is likely to be more effective than what is presently the case. Our resource pool is just too limited to allow us to spread it so thinly, without compromising effectiveness. In the meantime, I will be pursuing other avenues, including having discussions with my colleagues in National Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry, about how lottery funds, for example, can be utilized more effectively in pursuit of the objectives that we have for sport and recreation. Of course, the changes in the national sphere will have to be replicated at the provincial and local spheres as well. I trust, therefore, that this House will support the initiative and that the Standing Committee on Education and Recreation will encourage and oversee the process that will see the project to fruition.

In the same context, I have recognized the need for National and Provincial Sports Federations to be run more professionally. Federations are the primary delivery agents for sport and recreation in our country. They work at the coalface. Indeed, some of them are currently facing serious problems as a result of division within the ranks of administrators in their structures. Very often I am expected to react to media reports on such issues. This is not fair; rather, it should be up to the administrators to come forward should they need my assistance. These problems will have to be rooted out, for the interests of the athletes are suffering as a consequence of it. I have already sanctioned the appointment of an interim committee in softball that will prepare for elections in the sport towards the end of this year and by next month, I will be hosting a meeting for karate in order to put in place a new national controlling body. I am also facilitating the re-introduction of professional basketball in the country after disputes between Basketball South Africa and the PBL that resulted in court action, led to the demise of the sport at professional level.

The South African Sports Commission, together with the host province, Gauteng, hosted the inaugural South African Games in Pretoria late last year. The biannual event that was an overwhelming success and that will be hosted by the Eastern Cape Province next year, can only grow from strength to strength, and will provide our budding sport stars with opportunities to display their talents and pit these against those of their peers from across the country. The SA Games is an important component of the sports development process in our country and must be supported with a view to developing it into the prestigious event it deserves to be. This House and the Standing Committee must help with that process.

The Sports Tourism project, as this initiative has become known in the Department, has already taken off with socio-economic impact studies on three international sports events hosted in our country having been completed. The studies on the World Surfing Games, held in Durban in May 2002, the World Tug o' War Championship held in Pretoria during September 2002, and the Argus Cycle Tour show how these events benefit our country. A study on the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup is being completed presently and, as I have indicated earlier, the signs point to massive economic benefits for the country. An example of the impact that international events have on the economy is illustrated in the report on the World Surfing Games. During these Games, the 506 participants, along with the spectators, generated more than R11 million for the Durban economy through their direct daily spend. It has been determined that the last Argus Cycle Tour generated more than R300 million countrywide while the City of Cape Town on its own benefited by more than R200 million. On the basis of the R100 000 grant in aid made available by the Cape Town City Council for the event, that amounts to a return on investment in excess of 1:2000, i.e. for every R1 invested, a R2 000 return was achieved. In this manner, we believe that sports events contribute to the socio-economic development of our cities and provinces and, ultimately, the country. Local and provincial authorities should heed the conclusions of the studies that have been done and invest in projects aimed at attracting sports events to their areas of jurisdiction. It is the one way through which sport will be able to contribute immensely to the job creation initiative in our country.

Madam Chairperson

We stand on the brink of another exciting year in sport and recreation, both from the perspective of progressing the institution along the path of transformation within our country, and the participation of our athletes and teams in competitions at home and abroad.

During my recent visit to Abuja, Nigeria, to attend the General Assembly of the Supreme Council for Sport, I had the opportunity to inspect the magnificent new facilities built for the 8th All Africa Games. Our athletes can look forward to exciting Games on, and in some of the best facilities in the world, including the Games Village that meets the highest international standards. We have a proud record to defend and depend on "Team South Africa" to keep the flag flying high. We look forward to the President's Cup that takes place in George in November. We wish the local authority and the province well in their efforts to plan for and host the event. We look forward to a top class, successful competition that will see some of the world's foremost golfers gracing our shores.

Our netball team is currently in Australia for a series of matches in preparation for the World Cup due to be held in Jamaica in July and our women's softball team returned home last week as Southern African champions after the Zone VI Games in Botswana. Our national cricket team for their tour of England next month has been announced yesterday and we wish skipper Graeme Smith and the rest of the boys the best of luck. Athletics South Africa has also announced a formidable marathon team to join the rest of our athletics squad for the IAAF World Championships due to be held in Paris in August while our women's hockey team did well to hold Great Britain to a 2-2 draw in their test match played at the University of Potchefstroom. They now prepare for a four-test series against England and we wish them well.

I want to convey my congratulations to the Lions for retaining their Vodacom Cup title in the final against the Blue Bulls on Saturday and to the Border Bulldogs for taking the inaugural Vodacom Shield in the final against Griquas. The support for this game was fantastic and if anyone still doubted the wealth of black rugby talent in this region, this match should now convince those sceptics.

Madam Chairperson, Honourable Members

Government is pushing hard to transfer powers to the local authority sphere where they justly belong, as this is where delivery takes place. I strongly support the move while at the same time, recognising the need for strong cooperative governance between the three spheres. We have to function with a common purpose in mind, especially in an area such as sport and recreation where resources are scarce. It makes no sense that we should be working at cross-purposes.

Lastly, I would like to thank everybody who has contributed to making the past year interesting, enjoyable, exciting and successful in sport. In particular, I want to thank the Standing Committee on Education and Recreation and its able chairperson, Tata Kgware, for their dedication. Thank you for your unflinching support; keep up the good work!

Madam Chairperson, Honourable Members

I am firmly of the opinion that, as in other institutions in our society, the tide has also turned in sport and recreation and it is our joint responsibility to turn that tide into a flood for the benefit of all our people.

I THANK YOU!

Issued by Ministry of Sport and Recreation
20 May 2003

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