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The press statement by the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation, Beauty Dlulane, claiming that "it is the nature of the committee's oversight role that (sic) attending sports events do occur from time to time" is a desperate attempt to justify the unnecessary trip to Rio.

Contrary to the Chairperson's spin, there is no logical way in which the SASCOC sponsored fiesta to Rio qualifies as an oversight worthy of taxpayers money when so many athletes have to dig deep into their own pockets when attending sporting engagements on behalf of their country. 

Her claim that it was SASCOC that first offered the trip to the Committee does not make accepting the invitation to Rio the right thing to do. It is the responsibility of the invited party to accept or decline it. It is unsurprising that the Chairperson of the Committee has yet to pronounce whether or not she has reviewed her decision to attend the Olympic Games.

She and her ANC colleagues now have a choice to make: They can proceed with the trip to Rio and reaffirm that they are junket-obsessed fatcats who don't care about sports development at all or reject the invitation to send a message to SASCOC that it should spent more of its money supporting athletes.

Issued by DA