Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula wants to develop school sport as he strives to grow black talent – alongside inducements like school bursaries while waving a stick at sport federations to transform their racial representation‚ or lose funding.
Delivering his budget vote address in parliament yesterday‚ he said “school sport remains our only‚ viable and currently structured mechanism through which to truly address issues of development”.
By end 2014/2015‚ he said 254 school sport coordinators and 2‚770 educators throughout the provinces had been trained “to serve as force multipliers for school sport implementation”. A total of 726 schools have also been allocated sport equipment.
Talented school athletes were being targeted for a Ministerial Sports Bursary‚ which supported them from Grade 8 to Matric‚ “The department has already exceeded its target of 40 athletes supported each year at an amount of up to R100‚000 per learner.”
Mbalula said his department was partnering with the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) on the rollout of a talent tracking system and to “ensure that the athletes who succeed at a national competition level are supported to develop into elite athletes”.
A total of R92‚2 million – out of the total budget allocation of of R988.5 million for the national department of Sport and Recreation for 2015/2016 – is allocated to support the development of elite athletes.
Boxing received special mention from the Minister due to what he described as “a history of triumph over adversity and a heritage that South Africa is proud of”.
He announced that SABC1 had agreed to broadcast boxing tournaments from June 2015‚ which he hoped would attract sponsorship back to the sport. His department would also spend R10 million on the development of amateur boxing this year.
National sport federations were again sent a warning by the Minister: He said the spending focus in the medium term for Sport and Recreation Service Providers is to provide financial and non-financial support to 68 recognised sport and recreation bodies at a cost of R126.1 million‚ increasing to R138.7 million in the 2017/18 final year. “R107 million of this allocation is for transfers to National Federations. Going forward‚ the allocation to the federations will be linked to their implementation of the Transformation Scorecard and compliance with their transformation targets.”
“We cannot continue to render lip service to this issue of transformation. It must therefore constitute an integral part of our business process and organisational practice.”
The Minister said the bulk of his budget — R628‚6 million — has been allocated to “mass participation opportunities and recreation under the banner of our Active Nation programme”.
The Mass Participation Grant‚ he said‚ had helped get equipment to over 578 clubs and supported 106 clubs to stage tournaments and leagues. Over 3‚410 individuals from different sporting codes were trained in officiating‚ administration and coaching. “In this financial year we shall continue to consolidate this process and use the new club system as a change agent for transformation and development.”
Mbalula looks to school coaches for sport transformation
Delivering his budget vote address in parliament yesterday‚ he said “school sport remains our only‚ viable and currently structured mechanism through which to truly address issues of development”.
By end 2014/2015‚ he said 254 school sport coordinators and 2‚770 educators throughout the provinces had been trained “to serve as force multipliers for school sport implementation”. A total of 726 schools have also been allocated sport equipment.
Talented school athletes were being targeted for a Ministerial Sports Bursary‚ which supported them from Grade 8 to Matric‚ “The department has already exceeded its target of 40 athletes supported each year at an amount of up to R100‚000 per learner.”
Mbalula said his department was partnering with the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) on the rollout of a talent tracking system and to “ensure that the athletes who succeed at a national competition level are supported to develop into elite athletes”.
A total of R92‚2 million – out of the total budget allocation of of R988.5 million for the national department of Sport and Recreation for 2015/2016 – is allocated to support the development of elite athletes.
Boxing received special mention from the Minister due to what he described as “a history of triumph over adversity and a heritage that South Africa is proud of”.
He announced that SABC1 had agreed to broadcast boxing tournaments from June 2015‚ which he hoped would attract sponsorship back to the sport. His department would also spend R10 million on the development of amateur boxing this year.
National sport federations were again sent a warning by the Minister: He said the spending focus in the medium term for Sport and Recreation Service Providers is to provide financial and non-financial support to 68 recognised sport and recreation bodies at a cost of R126.1 million‚ increasing to R138.7 million in the 2017/18 final year. “R107 million of this allocation is for transfers to National Federations. Going forward‚ the allocation to the federations will be linked to their implementation of the Transformation Scorecard and compliance with their transformation targets.”
“We cannot continue to render lip service to this issue of transformation. It must therefore constitute an integral part of our business process and organisational practice.”
The Minister said the bulk of his budget — R628‚6 million — has been allocated to “mass participation opportunities and recreation under the banner of our Active Nation programme”.
The Mass Participation Grant‚ he said‚ had helped get equipment to over 578 clubs and supported 106 clubs to stage tournaments and leagues. Over 3‚410 individuals from different sporting codes were trained in officiating‚ administration and coaching. “In this financial year we shall continue to consolidate this process and use the new club system as a change agent for transformation and development.”
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