1. INTRODUCTION

The Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation took a decision on the 24 June 2003 to undertake a study visit to provinces. The objective of the study tour was to focus on the following issues:

• School sport especially schools with special needs
• Usability of facilities
• Existence of sport structures on the ground
• Establishment of sport academies
• Targeting usability of sport facilities located in the former colleges of education to assess the needs of the schools and local sport clubs
• Interaction with district councils aiming at assessing that existing facilities are open for multipurpose usage.

1. Composition of the delegation:

The multiparty delegation under the leadership of Mr C T Frolick (ANC) was Mr B.W Dlamini (IFP), Mr L.R Reid (ANC), Mrs D.M Morobi (ANC), Mrs M.A Seeco (UCDP) and Ms N Quvana (Committee Staff).

2. Meeting at the Ministry Boardroom, 15 August 2003

The delegation was welcomed by the MEC, Mr Bonokwane, with the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Sports and Recreation, Mrs Magda Dyers at 8h00.Thereafter, the delegation visited the following municipalities, Magareng; Sol Plaatjie at Kimberly, Siyanda at Upington and Kgalagadi at Kuruman. In every municipal area, sports facilities were visited. The leader of the delegation briefed the MEC about the background and the purpose of the study tour.

• Local government is not participating adequately.
• The province is struggling to maintain facilities.
• They have launched the academy of sport, but sport is not much integrated and there is no satisfaction in terms of resources and personnel.
• The Manne Dipico programme is starting from town level involving everyone.
• The white schools in the province have sport fields, which are much better than those of the local government.
• Local schools are squatting in a disabled school for facilities with only one administrator.
• In terms of resources, rugby and cricket are well supported whereas netball is struggling in getting sponsorship.
• Clubs are struggling to obtain resources and facilities. Facilities that belonged to the state are not accessible and the hiring of sports facilities is expensive.
• Farm workers are also engaged in the sport structures on the ground.
• There is progress of cricket in schools; for example, one of the schools in the township has won in the past years.
• On the issue of user-friendly facilities for people with disabilities, the province has some few facilities but those facilities end up closed due to lack of funds for employing caretakers.
• Since 1994, the level of participation in sport games has been massive for example, last year, about 15 000 learners participated in games.
• There is no coordination and integration between Love Life program and schools.

2. Recommendations

• The MEC should build a relationship with sponsors to be able to get sponsorship
• Health, Sport and Recreation and Education should form a cluster.

1. Magareng Local Municipality – Warrenton

The municipality was represented by Mr Willie Johnson, Mayor; Mrs Magda Dyers, Chairperson in the Provincial Committee of Sports, Arts and Culture; Councillors, E. Booi, HIV/AIDS Co-Chairperson and C.K Olivier, responsible for Sports, Arts and Culture from the Magareng Sport and Culture Congress; T. Moipolai, Assistant Director of Sports and Recreation and W. Majiedt, Transformation Officer.

• Since 1994, there had been problems for upgrading of sports facilities and there has not been any development in sports. They made submissions to local authorities and nothing has happened.
• A R3.9 m from the National Lottery Fund was received instead of R5.7 m applied for, to upgrade sports grounds. But they are now busy getting the Tenders to start with the project
• The Department of Sports and Recreation in the province promised to allocate an amount of R1.7 m to upgrade sports facilities and that amount has not been received yet. The MEC only brought the sketch of a Multi-purpose Centre that is to be built and up until now there has been no progress.
• There is no funding or support from the development programmes.
• There is a relationship between Sports Congress and Municipality. Sports Congress is represented to all communities and farmers, and it has engaged women in sport. But the Congress is unable to get to rural areas due to lack of funds and transport. USSASA is part of the Sports Congress not only representing schools but also communities and farmers. There are indigenous sports at schools.
• There are no facilities and there is talent for sport. The main sporting codes in that area are Soccer which comprises 19 teams and 13 is affiliated; Netball has 12 teams; Volleyball – 3 teams; Basketball – 3 teams; and cricket is played in schools.
• Mainly Whites play Rugby in schools. There are no tennis teams; individuals only play tennis and tennis courts are in a very bad state.
• Whites play Row ball only.

This municipality was represented by Councillors: M. Le Grange and V.M. Diraditsile; J.D Smith, Dep. Secretary/ PRO; W. Madjiet, Transformation Officer; Keith Ford, Chief Recreation; A. Mazzoncini, Recreation Officer for facilities.

• At local government level, grants are given to municipalities and facilities are not maintained.
• The municipality is running short of equipment and facilities.
• In rural areas there are no sporting codes. Sports like gymnastics are played in White schools only.
• There are no funds for players to participate in sport since basic equipment is not available.
• There is no access in ABSA Park but only the rugby provincial team have access to use the facilities. The ABSA Park was part of the South African Railways. The Griqualand West Rugby Union bought the stadium from the South African Railways; hence the stadium belongs to them not to the Municipality. The Municipality has launched an investigation on the contract that the Griqualand West Rugby Union has signed in buying the stadium and the MEC; Mr Bonokwane requested a full report from the Municipality on the matter.
• The biggest problem is that 99% of rugby players in the Griqualand West are not from the Northern Cape province.
• Sport facilities are mostly used for functions.
• Application has been made to the National Lottery Fund for R2.7 m to build sports facilities and the proposal has been considered and has not yet been received. Sport Councils have put a plan of a democratic election, i.e. they have been tasked by the MEC to get all the Sports Councils under one banner and constitution.
• There has been no support from the big two federations, soccer and cricket. It is very difficult to get facilities from the R20 000 that comes from SARFU.
• Racism is also one of the problems in the area, for instance in Rugby administration.
• In Coloured areas 90 % of soccer is non-existent there is no development of black players. Whites do not participate in soccer.
• The area is not intact and people are operating individually.
• Cricket, Soccer, athletics and indigenous games are launched within the province and Netball is played in Francis Baard. Hockey needs urgent development.
• At Kgaleshewe there is a cricket club accessible to the disadvantaged areas.

The delegation met with Councillors; Katrina De Wee, Siyanda District Municipality and Martin Klase, Mamiesberg Municipality; F.J Coetzer, Head Parks and Recreation, Iikhara Hais Municipality; Hermanus Pemidie, Chairperson Sport Rand, Kamiesberg Municipality; Jan J Pier, Coordinator IDP, Siyanda District Municipality; Koos Esau, Chairperson Portfolio Committee Infrastructure, Siyanda District Municipality; Rowena Isaks, Assistant Director, Department of Sport, Arts and Culture; Teko Moipolai, Assistant Director Sport and Recreation and David V Mdutyana, Media Liaison Officer.

• Structures are in place
• Distance is a problem and maintenance of grounds because of the climate.
• Racism
• Withdrawal of resources
• Decline in historical sport codes
• Minimal facilities and other places have no facilities at all
• Child rape
• Child labour in farmers
• Street kids is a problem
• Halls are accessible for utilisation but they are not user friendly. But an official has been appointed in Kimberly for people with disability sports. In structured organisations, nothing has been developed for people with disability.
• Wheelchair basketball has been developed

• There are structures developed, for example, Woolworths Fund for street kids and a Car wash project

The concern is that South African sport does not achieve what is supposed to and the problem lies with professionalism.

The representatives were O.E Kgopodithate, Mayor; O.H Barnard, Municipal Manager; A.N.P Lubbe, Councillor and Chairperson - Community Services; G. Motsamai, Councillor – Community Services; Jimmy Manner, Manager Community Services; David Kruger, Sports Co-ordinator all from Ga-Segonyana Municipality; Willy Madjiedt, Transformation Officer and John Coetzee, Sport Promotion Officer from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture;Jan Witbooi, Mayor Gamarara Municipality; Bernardo W. Maseng, Mayor Kgatelopele Municipality; S.K Molao, Co-ordinator Sports Council, Kgatelopele Municipality; Wrenchville Sports Union; O.D Mokeng, Councillor, Tsantsabane Municipality.

• The challenge is not only about sports facility but it is also about cross boarders. The sports facilities are run by sports union and are out of reach for the communities
• The department has allocated about R4 m for the development of sports facilities, but there are no structures in place
• At council level, there is a standing committee which attends to sports
• There is no coordination
• There is no clarity on how to access sport in terms of facilities and the Councillor never budgets for sports facilities
• In rural areas schools are trying their best in sports with very active athletes.
• There is not much response from the provincial government especially in the North West, therefore Sports Councils feel it is impossible to budget for sports facilities
• Department of Sport provides training on different sport codes, for example there is ladies professional soccer team
• There is women sport like soccer with various teams
• Sports communities need a lot of training but there is progress in training
• The concern is to have enough facilities to keep young stars busy during holidays in order to avoid teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and crime.
• There is a need to provide funds for transport due to the vastness of the areas; Donors are being consulted.
• Unemployment is 80%
• Facilities are vandalised and abandoned. There are also existing facilities that have always been maintained but there is just not enough to go beyond maintenance
• Youth experience difficulties in sport on a daily basis. Poverty is the problem therefore; focus should not only be in sport but also assistance from Health Department to keep young stars healthy. The province has lost talented young people to Gauteng province where there is availability of facilities. The Department of Sport and Recreation should come closer to youth.
• Youth representatives requested the Councillors to bring forth budget to Youth Councillors to smoothen things.
• Small budget is allocated for sport during holidays and there is no access of facilities in schools and clarity is needed in this issue.
• Mining houses do not want to avail facilities to the community

• Sport is progressing for example there is Hockey and soccer for ladies clinics have been brought to sporting.
• In schools there is no development of sport due to lack of equipment
• People are eager to play and develop sport, but there should be commitment to maintain available two facilities.
• At De Bank facilities are not up to standard, but there is a plan to develop a soccer ground. A National Lottery Fund application was turned down.
• There is a problem of transport and councils help where they can
• There are no basketball courts for indoor sports. They have to travel for long distance.
• In the Recreation Program people become more than expected and that creates a problem in terms of funds
• Youth council play a very strategic role in disadvantaged areas

• They started well as the sporting committee
• No access of facilities in advantaged areas
• Mining industries do not assist
• In training, there are volunteers who offer their services for training people.

• Need clarity on the cross boarder issue about stadiums
• Any female boxing?
• Are there NGOs engaged in sport?
• With the 57 schools in the area, how many schools with facilities?
• Are there sport desks in the Council?
• Is facilities user friendly?
• Are there any payments for sport facilities?
• Are there indigenous games at school level?

• On the cross boarder issue is that Northern Cape has funds that are not supposed to be used by North West hence Kgalagadi district is situated between the Northern Cape and North West
• No female boxing, but a new soccer team for women
• NGOs are not engaging in sport.
• There are only two schools available in Kuruman with facilities.
• Indigenous games have not been developed yet.

• There is interest in cricket but there are no playing grounds
• There is a soccer club and hockey for women
• There is basketball club but there is no facility
• Tennis and Netball are active
• They have submitted a business plan to the Department of Sport and National Lottery Fund and were informed by the Corporate Services but it is not yet approved
• The private mining town in the area has facilities and are not accessible.
• Racial problem
• There is willingness to participate in sport and people feel being part of the programme
• There is upgrading of the current sport facilities
• There are four schools, and only two have facilities and out of this two only one has good facility and one is very poor. They struggle to use the facility, as they have to consult the Department of Education.
• Hockey is still running short of equipment but there is effort done to get more.
• Two requests were raised that the leaders of the committee should take recognition of the young people and the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation should intervene with professional bodies like SARFU.

The delegation from Kuruman has recommended that, government should indicate to them what role should they play in terms of sports and clubs.

The delegation from the National Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation has recommended that sport is the core business of this government and that crime could be combated through development in sport. The delegation proceeded to North West Province.

Mr Dlamini could not join the delegation to the North West Province due to the crisis in his constituency he had to immediately attend to. The leader of the delegation apologised for the absence of the Chairperson of the PC on Sport and Recreation, he noted that the Committee had 3 delegations visiting other provinces simultaneously and briefed the sports officials about the visit. The delegation met in the Greater Taung Municipality with the Mayor and the officials of sport.

The Mayor welcomed the delegation and noted that Taung Municipality is a new developing municipality. Only one infrastructure has been developed, i.e. Modilo, which is not equipped, and others are not functioning due to lack of funds.

Youth have diverted to Cricket, Rugby and Soccer. They have tried to secure funds from the National Lottery Fund and from the Municipality. And they have just emerged to Indaba in Rustenburg. Sport academy is doing well to get people participate in Sport.

The Manager for Community Services added that, there is not a single district athletic stadium and in school sport there is a shortage of descent facilities.

• The area has contributed a lot to Bafana-Bafana and there is talent in swimming
• Unemployment rate is 60%
• There should be a special budget for Taung for capacity building and Bophirima areas should be allocated separately.
• It is expensive to travel because of the distance between areas
• There is a sport field built by the Department and schools have nothing
• Hockey do not have proper grass fields
• From farm schools there are children with talent, e.g. Du Plessis is a small farm and there is a lot of talent and a Councillor sits at the School Governing Body.
• Federations should come and meet with the community; Taung area is far from federations with bare grounds and no basic sporting facilities
• The Mayor added that there are twenty hoods in Taung, five communities could share one facility
• There is only one swimming pool in Rivillo far from the area
• The Community Services Manager added that maintenance of facilities is a problem and that it would be better if they could have at least a centre for competitions
• Volunteers from communities have tried their best to show interest and love of sport and there is a problem of the relationship between people on the ground and sports officials which ends up not knowing which doors they should knock at
• Teachers are volunteering to train learners and even communities in different sporting codes
• Sports Academy added that the sporting codes available are netball and soccer. They want to establish gymnastics and have five teachers who are volunteers trained in gymnastics
• In Rivillo, Taung, Makhareng, cricket teams are active, and a team called Dolphin Cricket Team has applied for a site for cricket.
• The strongest codes are soccer, athletics and netball
• Rivillo has a decent soccer field. There are four tennis courts, squash and plain ball courts but not fully utilized
• In Taung there are five grounds for soccer
• Councils have budgeted R 100 000 to develop basic facilities
• There are funds that are promising but plans need to be submitted
• Soccer has a lot of teams, but no clubs

The delegation wanted to know if there are NGOs involved in sport and recreation and the number of schools without football grounds. Their concern was whether Municipality maintain facilities and if there are people with disability participating.

The representatives from Taung area responded by mentioning that all schools have school grounds that are not developed. Affiliation is expensive for the schools since they have to pay for the fees out of their pockets. There are 12 federations for people with disabilities

1. Depot Hall Community where there are vandalized facilities, i.e. a tennis court and swimming pool which needs renovation. Depot Hall belonged to farmers.
2. Taung Stadium is a soccer stadium which is still under construction by the Department

The Mayor, Councillors, North West Sports Academy, SGB and Sport Councils represented the municipality.

The leader of the delegation, Mr C.T Frolick, briefed the sports officials who were present about the purpose and the objective of the study visit. And he apologised for the absence of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee.

The Mayor, Ms N Hlangwana welcomed the delegation. She added that the Council has committed itself to the 2010 Bid. They are also in the verge of meeting with the MEC of Arts, Culture and Technology. There is a fundamental construction of sports facilities and recreation. Drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and crime are under control.

Mafikeng is very rural with a lot to be done. Even in urban areas there is lack of sports facilities with a big stadium that needs maintenance. There are no structures in place that could assist to control the rate of pregnancy. There is an allocation of a R1 m to upgrade boot cells and ticket sales.

• A substantial amount of money is needed to upgrade Mafikeng.
• There are facilities that are not utilized well.
• In Montsiwa Residence, R500 000 was allocated to renovate Montsiwa Stadium. On the question they have as to why the community cannot utilize the facility, the response to that was that renovation is not completed because the amount allocated is not enough. The contractor has not handed over the stadium to the community for utilization; therefore they need a proper direction from the National Government on how to get the stadium and guidelines on how to maintain the stadium. On this issue a question was raised by the delegation as to why there has been a delay in completing the stadium in Montsiwa. The Department responded by saying that the problem in Montsiwa is between the consultant and the contractor, but the Departmental officials have not seen the stadium. The scope has been completed according to the business plan of the renovation of the stadium. Mr. Dube, Programme Manager noted that the process of renovation is complete, but it is just a grass that is still under construction, and the problem with the contractor is being addressed. The leader of the delegation suggested that there should be a report done on this and should be handed over to the Department and also to the National Parliament.
• Hockey member from Denvil added that there are no facilities and fields are not completely built and there is also a ground that needs to be developed. There is a lot of talent and teachers are interested
• More funds are needed to upgrade sports facilities and projects and need interaction from provincial and national government
• Swimming pools are only in Rustenberg which is far for swimmers
• Business people are prepared to help with sports facilities
• Sport codes like dance and gymnastics are active in Mafikeng
• There are a lot of soccer fields available without grass
• Due to lack of water, shelter and food for the people, it is difficult to engage communities with sport
• One of the sport councillors recommended that in the villages, on the question of who is going to be responsible for the building of facilities, the Chief will be responsible together with sports councils.

• Is there any contribution from the mining industries?
• What amount has been allocated to maintain facilities?
• Are there community halls accessible to the community?
• Are there any Colleges of Education where communities can benefit in terms of facilities?

• Mafikeng Municipality accepts that it has a role to play but there are financial constraints.
• The mining does not consider the poor therefore; it is something that they will look at.
• Community Halls are not accessible, the community needs to book a hall with payment and there are various halls where indoor sport can be practiced.
• There are no Colleges of Education, but there is one University but it does not have sports fields.

The MEC thanked the delegation for the visit. The MEC’s input about the province was that the province is trying to take a big step in developing sport. But the Local Government has chosen, for some reason, not to take sport seriously. He has engaged with municipalities to at least make some collaboration with them and has tried to intervene in the IDP. In the province there is serious commitment in netball. The challenge is the fusion of particular orientation of entitlement, which participated at diverse levels. For examples in areas like Bophirima, Taung, there is very little development in sport and there is a problem of resources. Resources are predominantly in white areas.

And the problem does not lie with only local government, but government has not come to realisation that sport must be funded; therefore they are not satisfied with the progress in the area of sport. The challenge that they are facing is that they have to make sport attractive to communities; at the moment there is competition with technology.

They are participating cohesively in the term of 2010 bid. There is emulation to school sport and out of school sport and had agreed with the department that there should be sport facilities at school and out of school. USSASA and Love Life Games are taking part in the province. In rugby there is no resistance with transformation but boxing has not made serious involvement.

The delegation visited Bapong Stadium that is one of the thirteen greening projects from the province at the cost of R1.2 m is still under construction. After the visit of the facility, the delegation met with the sports officials and representatives of the communities at Madibeng Municipality.

The delegation was welcomed by MEC for Department of Community Safety, Social and Health Service. Mr Frolick, gave a brief explanation for the objective and purpose of the visit.

Mazarek community have problems with the municipality in terms of representing the people. Have a problem with politicians making decisions for the community. There are no sporting codes.

In Bapong, it is difficult to access facilities, every time a facility is needed by the community to use for activities, a payment of R150 is required.

There are no funds available to sustain sport they are struggling to travel. There are no sport facilities, for instance where they play there are not even change rooms and toilets. Municipality is only concentrating at a certain sport code in urban areas, therefore neglecting rural communities. The municipality facilities are not accessible. Racism is a problem, former white schools had a contract with the municipality to maintain facilities, and that contract is permanent. Once those facilities are open, whites do not even want to play in those facilities because they feel that black will take over.

In Brits Golf Club, funds were given to maintain facilities and are not accessible. Federations develop white schools only in the North West province. It is very difficult to keep volunteers interested to help develop sports in communities if there are no incentives.

The Local Municipal Manager added by saying, there are problems in terms of their role. There is a huge gap with sport, for example, there are two projects but there is no communication about that. The provincial government is not part of the local council. An amount of R800 000 was allocated to Madibeng for the development of facilities, but the funds have not been utilised.

• Are there any sporting codes active in the area?
• Which structures are the community representatives involved in?

There is initiative to get the children to form clubs, but there are no facilities and funds, and travelling is also a problem. The businesses are not supporting as such. If the federations could come closer to the people, that could help sport in communities, and also the community would be able to choose which sporting codes they would like to go for.

There is enthusiasm for sport but they should improve their level. Councils should stay in touch with the communities. The federations have the responsibility to assist in sport. The department should take note and investigate the R800 000 mentioned.

In future study tours should include or involve media strategy, because it seems that the Province did not invite municipalities and other communities.