1. To promote participation of South Africans in local and international sport and recreation programmes through own programmes and funding of associated organizations and to monitor the impact on communities.
2. Mass participation is directly driven at national level as a major policy initiative. Meetings and in loco visits will take place at points of implementation of the Siyadlala programme
3. Visits to key nodal areas where community mass participation programmes have been launched by SRSA at the end of July and development plans for the Indigenous Games and mass participation programmes for the disabled and women
4. Meetings with local USSASA structures to discuss challenges facing them in the implementation of the national programme and funding, USSASA plans to implement the school sport programme and the desired funding model and mechanism
5. Meetings with the key federations (soccer, cricket, rugby) that are funded by SRSA and evaluation of their development programmes in relation to performance target commitments given to SRSA
6. Meeting the local sport councils and management committees of the provincial academy at the universities on their admission/selection criteria and programmes, linkages to the national academy and sources of funding in terms of corporate entities
7. Meeting with sport councils based in the Metros and district municipalities to establish their involvement in national events such as the 2010 World Cup; to learn of the challenges they experience in relation to national lottery disbursement agency pertaining to sport and recreation; also their plans they have for rural areas because sport councils are a direct responsibility of the national department and to find out how they are resourced by the department and sport councils were established in terms of the Sport Commission.
8. Meeting with an expert on recreational issues on a researched study into recreation in South Africa.
9. Visiting areas where Building for Sport and Recreation programme is implemented, evaluation on the efficacy of the programme with regards to mass community participation and determining the state of readiness of local structures to become implementing agents for the programme.

1. Mr. B M Komphela, ANC (Chairperson) leader of the delegation (joined 5 – 14)
2. Mr. M M Dikgacwi, ANC
3. Mr. C T Frolick, ANC (08 – 13 October)
4. Mr. T J Louw, ANC (4 - 8 October)
5. Mr. E Mtshali, ANC
6. Ms D M Morobi (ANC)
7. Ms M M Ramakaba-Lesiea (ANC)
8. Mr. S J Masango (DA) (3 –5 and rejoined on 7-8)
9. Gen B H Holomisa, UDM (could not join due to bereavement)
10. Mr. B W Dhlamini (did not join)
11. Rev M S Khumalo ( 4 –5 October)
12. Ms N Mbuqe (Committee Secretary)

LIMPOPO

The Committee arrived in Limpopo on Sunday, 3 October and met with the MEC Mr. Joe Maswanganyi. Mr. M Dikgacwi briefed the province broadly about the objectives of the visit and the expectations on behalf of Mr. Komphela, Chairperson, who had other commitments. After briefing the MEC, departmental officials and the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Sport, Education and Culture then the MEC responded on the challenges, success and future plans of the department.

He mentioned that the province is the second last in terms of budget and the department has received an amount of R57milliom for the current financial year. He requested assistance from the delegation to put pressure to National Treasury to enable him to prepare for the 2010 World Cup.

The province will host Indigenous Games this year in this month of October. The province had been engaged during that week with O R Tambo Games that is part of SA Games in preparation of selecting the best to represent Limpopo. These games start from ward level, district level up to provincial level. School Sport is a problem that seems to affect the whole country and he perceived that Western Cape that he thought might be the better province on school sport since they reached an agreement with the Department of Education. He emphasized that DOE is responsible for kids during school hours as much as kids are members of the community. But the department has a good relationship with DOE.

He noted that sport codes like cricket and boxing are very far behind in terms of alignment but moving towards a positive direction. Presently the province has more boxers usually Eastern Cape used to dominate. One of the challenges is lack of sponsors but that is taken care of. He met with rugby people and decided to lobby that Limpopo is a stand-alone region and not rely on other provinces. University of Venda has taken an initiative to be responsible for high performance and they have the best equipment.

SAFA is uniting the two regions in line with provincial boundaries and an interim structure is in place to launch the unity. Soccer is reaching a maturity stage. Below Premier Soccer League (PSL), i.e. Mvela are two teams playing and there are three teams in the PSL level. Local sport councils are at provincial, district and down to local municipality level. Academy of sport has been established at Seshego, waiting to be launched officially and looking at utilizing all underutilized or closed colleges of education to establish six (6) provincial satellites.

There is a need for more funding to augment Lottery grant to improve the academy. The province is very proud that the gold and silver medals came from this province during Olympics in Athens. That proves there is talent that in the province but lack funds to develop more African kids and White kids will always dominate because they have better facilities. For 2010 preparations, the province was earmarked to host FIFA matches but there are no world-class facilities. According to FIFA requirements, the province should have 5 star hotels. To be able to meet that a lot of lobbying of investors has to be done but at the same time the investors will look at the profit they will get after 2010. There are plans in place to upgrade a stadium owned by municipality which is also far for pedestrians. This facility used to be owned by White communities who have their own cars, a plan for public transport to reach to the stadium is a big challenge. Also during the night games the stadium is not accessible and the MEC promised to engage municipality or will pursue accessibility for transport.

He was concerned about tenders that are not available to start the job of building infrastructures but will meet with SAFA on 19 October to discuss it. Former Venda and Gazankulu the only places with better facilities are but the rural areas have nothing. The only available funds were from the poverty relief fund and not from the provincial budget. All the federations were advised to apply from Lottery Fund. DISSA is working closely with the Premier where disabled people are allocated. There are three structures dealing with disabled, one person sits on the board of the academy.

The province drew common business plan to assist all clubs to apply for lottery after being addressed an academy gave guarantor for the clubs who don’t have two-year audited bank statements. Cricket still operates in isolation. Two consultative meetings to bring them closer took place hoping to achieve a united cricket in the province.

The leader of the delegation thanked the MEC for his valuable input and assured him that even Western Cape has a problem as far as school sport is concerned. He elaborated by saying USSASA in some areas don’t have capacity to accommodate all schools. He emphasized that academies should be engaged for talent development.

The delegation was welcomed by the manager for recreation, Ms Malesiba Semenya from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in Limpopo province. After introducing the people involved in the building of the center the delegation got a briefing from the manager, building constructor and Building for Sport Programme on the background of the center. Mr. Frank van der Merwe, manager of the facility informed the delegation that the community of Seshego identified that facility before 1994. They saw a need and even started with the project and sport committee in the municipality endorsed it. The purpose of the project would be to assist in hosting national events on indoor games like hockey, soccer etc and will also play a vital role in writing the community on social basis.

The project has spent R9,6m on its first phase which will be finished end of October 2004 and an amount of R6m is made available for the second phase. The total cost of the project would be R24m. The community is very involved 110 people are employed with 30 women presently due to the nature and stage of the construction. More women are to be employed during the second phase when they will not be climbing very high. Organizational committee has not been organized yet from SAFA for the preparation for 2010. The contractor, Mr. Edwin also contributed by confirming that 100% community based employed in the project all are within walking distance the facility. He also emphasized that the 30% women employment was an agreement within the community considering the stages and forms of construction hoping to involve more as the project grows.

The size of the facility is about 45 x 45 and will seat 1200 people on the grand stand with provision for VIP people and 800 on the ground. There will be cloakrooms for spectators and athletes. Vendors will also be accommodated. A space will be provided for testing, i.e. antidoping. 800 cars will be provided for parking and a lot of storerooms for equipments with air conditions. The final floor will be a synthetic not concrete floor to meet with the international standards required by FIFA.

• Is the area not crowded with facilities?
• Any women contractors involved in the project?
• Is it accessible to the members of the community when in operation, or do they have to use transport?
• Any youth or disabled persons involved in the construction?
• Do you encounter problems where the tender would price less and deliver very poor quality due to ignorance or no expertise?
• Is parking space enough?
• How long are the people capacitated to have certificates in skills?
• Any space for swimming pool space? Or can a swimming pool be built in one of other wards in order not to have everything in one ward because pools should be a necessity for skill development. Swimming is one of the strong requirements for a job at South African Airways.

Responses

• The project has skills transfer training and 6 people are semi-skilled from the training.
• The project is looking at empowering more women during the second phase and one woman is already been trained as a building supervisor. There is still shortage of women in steel fixing, concrete or electricity contraction. One is in glass fitting and more in plastering. Tendering process is introduced to women with other contractors either than the one in the present project.
• There will be ramps in all doorways to accommodate wheelchairs.
• The facility is centralized so it is a walking distance for all.
• While busy building, the community is renting out indoor sport center in Seshego where kids participate in recreational activities but this one will reach more kids.
• Polokwane has 35 wards and would like to provide each ward with a basic facility looking at soccer, rugby, softball, grass field etc. facilities that are existing are only from poverty alleviation programmes funding but Sekhukhune, Bohlabela and Capricorn don’t have facilities. Also nodal point areas have been allocated money for 2004/5.
• Municipality has a policy of assisting or employing tenders at 10% of the project amount.
• Parking will have enough space.
• Mass participation is lacking. People who were supposed to attend steering committee are not interested and are not from sport fraternity so they don’t have passion for sport. People who are supposed to benefit are not aware.
• For safety during events there are 14 escape doors and a standby generator is made available in the cases of power failure.
• There are sport committees in all levels but operating in a slow motion but only those passionate with sport are putting more effort.
• Swimming pool is planned to be built next to the center. Needs are identified according to the wards guided by schools and teams in that area. Some areas see sport as something to have but not a necessity. In the case of the swimming pool, other areas don’t have water, electricity or sanitation in order to build pools. The province also looks at economical impact of the people on the ground. Also lessons on water awareness should be organized.
• Finances are also not available to build pools but depend on grants.
• Municipal Infrastructure Grant could be an opportunity and a threat as well; sport will suffer because money will be in one big pot. The PC must ensure that sport gets a big share too.
• Leaders in Limpopo must motivate for finances to build pools and sport should be encouraged to take youth out of crime spots. The province also needs to move to other kinds of sport codes so that sponsors could avail finances.

The delegation moved to the Academy of Sport built at Kwela Moloto campus with hostels accommodating kids and testing centers. This facility is not yet operating as an academy and offices of this academy are elsewhere.

3. VISIT TO SENWABARWANA MPP HUB - BLOUBERG MUNICIPALITY

The delegation visited Blouberg Municipality to meet sport councils. The municipal manager briefed the delegation on programmes they have for sport and recreation at a mayoral level. The mass participation is one of the programmes that take place. The delegation was introduced by Kgoshi Thobejane, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture in the province. Mr. Dikgacwi briefed the mayoral committee on sport on the purpose of the visit and what he delegation expected to achieve from it. The councilor took the delegation through their programes noting that mass participation has not started long but it is happening.

The municipality assist sport with facilities and has very committed coordinators. The facility within the municipality is not yet complete. The programmes started with hub coordinators and codes such as basketball, athletes and indigenous games. The whole purpose is to target the youth and the hub coordinators has met with the nearby school kids with programmes involving parents as well. The coordinators have a task to approach disabled persons that are schooling at Helena France and will also contact disabled persons at home. Ms Malesiba Semenya 2010 preparations have started and also busy establishing policies to be in line with what should be guiding the province coordinates provincial intervention. O R Tambo games have started already and municipalities are preparing the Under 14 for SACGA. Women participation is active especially in mass participation.

The Municipal Manager indicated the challenge of finances but plans are in place to rehabilitate old facilities and establish 1 or 2 big structures as a foundation to develop sport broadly. He mentioned that the only available funds are from the equitable shares. Sport is given third priority from IDP. Municipality has willing people to take sport forward.

• A child who wants to represent the province and have no money, how do you handle that situation?
• How does the municipality unearth talents from the province?
• Has the municipality approached the mining industry in the province for financial assistance?
• Is National Lottery Distribution Fund been fully utilized?
• How much involvement is there with schools or you are looking at youth out of school?
• What happens to orphans left by their fathers who died in the mines? Who is taking care of them if mines are not assisting?
• How many sport coordinators and how are they deployed?
• Any monitoring mechanism on the identified talents? Any database available in order to track those who disappear after development?
• What role or relationship is played by USSASA?

• The province have different wards where talents are identified and after that approach sport academy to nurture the child further.
• The vision is to persuade mines as they promised they would want to plough back to the community. They promised to assist but not yet fulfilled that promise.
• Other companies have not been contacted.
• School kids come after normal school hours to participate the coordinators try to confine themselves to nearby institutions.
• Limpopo school sport association is working at school level during school hours and department takes over after hours.
• 9 sport coordinators in the municipality are on the ground but still trying to integrate youth and old.
• Limpopo West and SACGA are responsible for database. All players who took part in national games should be monitored and assisted to get exposure.
• Information got from National Lottery fund was that municipality doesn’t apply but only federations should. The worst nightmare was the two-year audited financial statement.
• Sport councils are formed with mass participation included but have started at district level with workshops with the former white sports codes. A team of hockey has begun and will be represented in the next games.
• Handball is under SCORE, an NGO, and they gave facility also rugby will fund the province and ready to launch. Council fund with transport, material and stationery.
• Bigger vision is to have better standardized facilities in the centers.
• Nodal points need to provide facilities where the nodal points are.
• USSASA is operating but not very close to them, the delegation was requested to put pressure on federations to come down to rural areas.

4. BOCHUM SPORT GROUND

The hub has two coordinators and two offices. Unprofessional people constructed the hub in 2001. This is the only facility in Blouberg with 700 athletes and one in Eldorado Park will be the second one and it has received an amount of R1,9m. There are programmes for elders and also programmes for preschool children. There is lack of equipment and facility to start training professional players. Municipality promised to improve the facility.

5. MEETING WITH USSASA – MEC BOARDROOM- LIPRUSSA

Eddie Mavhuna, the president, welcomed the delegation. The president noted that the structure has celebrated its ten years of existence and the headways made as the structure. They are reaching all schools in the province and executive is elected from the people from the rural areas. Urban areas or former Model C schools in the province are still clinging on their facilities and only participate within the USSASA structure at the beginning of each year during athletics. Some codes are still only White such as swimming, hockey, rugby and cricket. When invited to the township either to attend activities or meetings their scapegoat is that they are under staffed and cannot be able to attend.

In 1994 to 1997 the structure worked with the Department of Education and only last year, 2003 that they had no standing relationship between SRSA and DOE. Activities are organized up to school level. Every two years new committees are established. One of the challenges is development. A camp is needed to train kids and spread them through all levels from local, district and provincial.

• Were there attempts from USSASA to meet with the Standing Committee of Education or Sport in the province?
• Any details on the participation of the programme of USSASA, if not, why not, if yes what are those details?
• What is the financial position of the structure currently?
• What is the relationship between USSASA and municipality?
• What prevents the structure from reaching all schools?
• What is USSASA’s main role? What is the structure’s strength?
• The delegation suggested that the standing committee should play an active role to assist USSASA. The structure was also advised to apply to Lottery Fund. Minister of Sport and Recreation emphasizes on moral regeneration and role modeling in schools but discussions are still on between DOE and SRSA on where school sport should be placed.
• Kgoshi Thobejane, chairperson of the provincial standing committee on sport, arts and culture was concerned that the structure seemed to be focusing on government for sponsor while they could look at other revenue at their disposal. He promised to intervene as a committee only if the structure could explain why do the departments not supporting them.
• The delegation wanted to know whether DOE is aware of the problems the structure has encountered from white schools and suggested that the standing committee should meet with USSASA to discuss issues intensively affecting school sport. When the delegation comes back progress should be seen on the problems highlighted by the structure.

• The structure has tried to have meetings with the committee but never succeeded.
• Teacher participation – some teachers don’t want to go to rural areas and if they are deployed there they leave immediately after school complaining of transport to where they live, i.e. in the suburbs. They also suggested that legislation or regulation might assist if sport could have incentives. Teachers running sport are not paid but just volunteering.
• Municipalities differ when it comes to relationship on facilities. Schools own their facilities and they charge exorbitant fees. 95% schools participate some are still ignorant thinking USSASA is part of a political spectrum.
• The role of USSASA is to prepare provincial teams. Although they are told that they belong to DOE when they go there they are told they are not budgeted for.
• Teams are selected but the department does not pay for transport and neither do they pay for accommodation. The financial position presently is that the structure doesn’t get any funding from the government either from SRSA or DOE. They are using affiliation fees paid by each school at the beginning of each year. They also do fund raising and parents are requested to pay.
• The structure has an obligation to report to the organization about funds on yearly basis.
• The other challenge is that they cannot send a team anywhere due to financial constraints. Only those kids with parent who can afford to pay attend the tournaments, which means the structure will have to select according to availability and affordability not the best athletes.
• They suggested that a specific department accountable and responsible should own school sport.
• DSR bought attire for winter game. White schools participation is from grassroots level and some participate at provincial level. Selection takes place at provincial level and presently there are more Black kids participating.
• Circulars for meetings and activities are sent to all schools but majority of white schools don’t see the need to be part.
• A letter from Lottery confirmed sum of R200 000 that is available for human resource purposes. Also sum of R250 000 grant was received from Lottery earlier.
• Former Model C schools have only School Governing Bodies (SGBs) to determine their participation in school sport. DOE views schooling as priority more than sport. The structure tried to meet with the former MECs of education and sport to discuss the future but without success.

6. MEETING AT THE GREATER SEKHUKHUNE MUNICIPALITY

The municipal manager met the delegation and was willing to respond to questions or clarity sought by the delegation on sport matters within the municipality.

On sport programmes the manager cited some examples of money given to sport for 2003/04 for promotion of sport in the district although there was no coordinator that resulted to R50 000 spent to appoint sport coordinator. In 2004/05 sum of R100 000 was put aside to augment what happened the previous year. The district has participated in Makhado Games in Limpopo to promote sport. R3m budget for sport fields is available but is not enough to prepare for 2010. Facilities in the area and cannot take the entire available crowd.

Kgoshi Thobejane wanted to know whether they have development plans in line with 2010 and mass participation. The response was that programmes are not yet developed and currently they are trying to capacitate the sport office. They need basic hall in Motubatse and two stadiums. Those facilities that were built in 2000/01 are deteriorating and one has been eroded during heavy rains. The towns where these facilities were built have historical background where the land was not transferred. During the delegation’s last visit Dr Nevuthanda was delegated with the responsibility of following the transfer of the land. No one is able to give that feedback since Dr Nevuthanda has left.

R293 land transfer has been delegated to municipalities so it is the responsibility of the Local Government. The department was also asked to temporarily take over the facilities. Sekhukhune is presidential nodal point but since it is not allocated any facility is disappointing. When asked if they have approached Lottery Fund the answer was no. The municipal manager was then advised to apply. The delegation thanked the manager for availing himself even without notice but gave the most information he could.

The facility has been upgraded by BSRP for R3m from 2003/04 budgets and is made of expensive face bricks. It has not been handed over yet and still under consultancy. Capacity seating is more or less 1 000. The field is fenced, have soccer poles and athletic tracks are not yet done. The irrigation is waiting for the electrician to be able to take off the ground. The facility is well looked with toilets and storerooms ready to be used. The community around will be using the benefiting from the facility.

The manager of Limpopo Academy of Sport presented on the role, function and challenges facing the academy. The academy is a year old with its vision and mission. It has three programmes as (i) Education and Training that deals with sport councils. Federations identify stakeholders to attend training and capacitating e.g. events management. (ii) Basic team management an (iii) Advanced administrative and basic administration. SASC informed the academy to take care of 13 federations as well as sport council members.

The academy empowers people from federations that is a principle from SASC. Also life skills programmes with 12 modules for the athletes like time management to assist them to manage their time even for arriving on time for training. HIV and AIDS as well as protocol short courses are provided. Scientific and medical support dealing with service providers and is rated according to their expertise. University of Venda has been identified to assist in testing of athletes scientifically with the results analyses the athlete on interventions like weakness or strengths of an athlete. The academy is also expected to train head coaches from federations but finances does not allow. White people dominate when it comes to head coaches but the academy is trying to close that gap.

Mr. Matlala, one of the board members confirmed that the academy supports councils and federations on identifying talents then prepare them for excellency. They are looking at producing holistic athletes who can handle media and also be accepted by the community. Athletes are supported with diet, physiology and psychological assistance. The most challenge is that he manager does not have administrative assistance but she is a very hard working person.

• Support grant from DSR of R350 000 is acknowledged for last year an R400 000 this year for administration. Lottery gave R1m but still not enough.
• The province is vast and requires at least R6m to assist the whole province.
• Satellite academies are needed but DSR is taking care of that which could assist to touch base with the people. Centers testing athletes e.g. are using Gauteng tests now but not impressive to enrich Gauteng more either than to boost Limpopo. Despite being new and manager is without assistance but she has delivered far more than other provinces with full capacity. Personnel is currently the biggest challenge and satellites would be of great assistance.
• Experiences a problem of blood system of athletes that is not balanced due to the food they eat. The only solution to this problem would be intergovernmental linkage with other departments to meet all the challenges e.g. agriculture for vegetable; social development for social problems etc.

• Are women not interested in coaching?
• How is the relationship with local government? Is there any interaction?
• Why is the council operating in car booths if the relationship with the department is good?
• The Minister of Sport and Recreation in the country will hold Indaba meetings with sponsors to address the issue of lack of sponsorships.

• Women chose their spouses than sport and coaches are brought not selected by the academy but the gender balance is always questioned. Coaching is a process that also requires skill and cannot be achieved overnight. Women coaches are now coming in slowly.
• White counterparts are also undermining the academy.
• There was an event in Sweden where disabled were sent to participate they did the province very proud. There is one member of the board who is physically challenged. Courses were organized for the physically challenged as well to meet the standards of other countries.
• The academy does not deal directly with federations.

Limpopo sport council president shared with the delegation that they are two years old and have vision and mission with a slogan of "getting Limpopo play". They don’t have an office but working in a boot of a car. The structure depends on federations for funds. The main objective is to coordinate all activities of federations in the province; recommends funds in wards and district councils. They work closely with SASSU, LIPRUSSA and DISSA. The relationship with the government is to do projects as a team since they have resources to be utilized together.

They are not directly involved with sport programmes but rely on codes and also harmonize situations during conflicts. They are also responsible for assisting codes to get sponsorship especially after 1994 when sponsors withdrew drastically but their main priority is small codes.

• Lack of clarity on lines of operation between councils and Department of Sport and Recreation that causes many clashes.
• Lack of voluntarism.
• Lack of funds for development, transportation etc.
• Lack of infrastructure.
• What is going to happen to sport councils after the SASC merger?
• Need to look at business people in the provinces for sponsorships e.g. government to build companies in provinces by Lottery Fund’s money.

The delegation felt that report back should be done on all main points highlighted during the visit for instance the delegation found that in the municipality in Sekhukhune they were not expected and that was not accepted or taken lightly. The delegation was impressed by skill development in the project at Ngoako Ramahlodi Multipurpose Centre. The community should not be encouraged to build facility in each and every ward as they heard from the people. In Blouberg municipality the delegation was delighted about the flexible times worked by volunteers to accommodate everyone but they don’t have enough information on how to do their job effectively.

The MEC commended the delegation for their visit. He further noted that there is a need to do transfer of facilities to municipalities which was a decision taken by the Cabinet to transfer all R293 towns facilities, i.e. former homeland facilities and vehicles including movable machinery. The province don’t have budget to build new infrastructures. HOD and heads of municipalities signed Service Level Agreement for maintenance of facilities. The delegation also thanked the MEC for hosting them in the province and the delegation proceeded to Thoyohandou and to Mpumalanga

The meeting was with the sport desk and local sport councils in the Musina Local Municipality. The mayor, Mr. David welcomed the delegation with enthusiasm and also indicated that the province informed them of the visit at the eleventh hour. He acknowledged the delegation as experienced people who could assist the province on the challenges they encounter.

The leader of the delegation, Mr. Komphela, introduced the delegation and addressed the attendees on the objective of the visit. He emphasized on the development of sport programmes in the municipality in line with the preparations for 2010 World Cup amongst other things.

The mayor then informed the delegation that the municipality has a skeleton sport desk because the person responsible is engaged with all sport activities. He promised that they would have full time personnel when fully established. Facilities are not up to standard. Games are taking place especially during winter. The relationship is sound with DSR but cannot honour obligation due to financial constraints and cannot cover all costs. A grant has been received from DSR to upgrade Leslie Manyathela Stadium. As a result of new demarcations from 1999, three villages have no facilities. People just play on the ground.

• How much was the grant?
• Have you applied from National Lottery Fund?
• Leslie Manyathela is a very important project and the committee should assist in talking to National Lottery to upgrade the facility. BSRP is going to be transferred to Municipal Infrastructure Grant and the delegation wanted to know if the mayor or community is aware of that. The main concern of the delegation is that municipalities might not be in a position to use that money for sport but would instead look at other priorities. What would be the mayor’s approach? He was also asked where sport features in his IDP. He was advised that sport is very important to keep youth away from social ills and also to keep them healthy. NGOs like SCORE can also assist to build facilities.

• The grant was from DSR for R1,25m. The municipality has applied and still waiting for a reply. Last year they did not get any response from Lottery but applied again. They received soccer kits and t-shirts from Lottery through SAFA.
• He further said that the municipality is small and manageable. Unless there are concerns like the traditional leaders who want to fall within the municipality then the money would be utilised for wrong reasons. But he felt that if its a conditional grant then that would be another case and will depend also on Integrated Development Plan priorities. He noted that sport is one of the key priorities in the area to fight against crime, etc. vandalism is the main problem.
• He mentioned lack of sponsorships.

• What is the relationship between school sport and sport councils?
• Is the sport council covering the whole district? The answer was yes.
• Who is involved in O R Tambo Games?
• Has the municipality ever engage academy of sport in the province for assistance?
• Inclusion of Model C schools should be seen as a broader strategy nationally so a change of approach is needed as well as political intervention. Local, provincial and national government need to assist in solving this problem.
• Any programmes on mass participation?

1. The relationship is very good.
2. There is reluctance on the side of White people because they don’t attend meetings with excuses that the Blacks don’t have facilities and they are not prepared to share their facilities either.
3. Local municipalities are participating in the SA Games.
4. Due to lack of information they have never engaged the academy. The academy came to the area during organization of Under 14 and 12 but those kids complained that they could not attend school during the training.
5. Villages are visited to select squad and bring them together to play against one another in preparation for selection of the best athletes for the province.

The mayor further explained that Model C schools claimed that parents paid for the school facilities. The concern he has is the relationship with DOE and who is responsible for organizing events in the area.

Mr. Komphela assured them that the Memorandum of Understanding has been finalized and will address the problem. He informed them that the academy of sport is free and is maintained by SRSA. Schools Act regulates all schools so they should all be guided by it. He also promised that a meeting between the two committee, i.e. sport and recreation and education will be convened to raise this racial saga of Model C schools.

The challenge that sport councils have is that Musina Local Municipality is not represented resulting in them not getting information from Vhembe District Municipality.

The delegation proceeded to Leslie Manyathela stadium. The facility is waiting for R1,5m from BSRP and R1m from the mayor has not been used yet. The plan for this amount is to buy floodlights, fencing and grandstand has to be extended. In the plan for upgrading will be:

• A tennis court
• Titanic track
• Netball courts
• Second entrance and commentators’ room.
• Space for parking
• One tennis court should be converted to basketball court because there are also other existing tennis courts in the area. Presently only 500 can be seated in the stadium. It has change rooms and toilets but no security fence to separate players from the spectators. Currently the facility is over used for playing matches and practice so the grass cannot grow as expected.

• They are faced with hierarchy and without constitution to guide them and no clear job description.
• Codes like soccer, netball and cricket are without ground to play. Basketball is using indoor poles due to lack of outside facilities. Outside Thulamela there is a basketball ground but the problem is distance. Athletics failed to be hosted due to no track in the stadium. Table tennis needs equipment. Tennis court is only in Thohoyandou not in the rural areas. The area is about to introduce water lessons but no swimming pool is available. Rugby is played at school level not in the community. Golf can also be established but there is no facility.
• There is only one stadium in Malamulele. The area would like to focus more on 2010 preparations but the qualifications or requirements to have such games are too expensive e.g 5 star hotels etc.

The delegation advised the sport councils to use their constituency offices for their operations if they need office space. They were also asked how ward councils meet. They were informed that honorary funding is organized to assist ward councilors to attend distant meetings.

The sport councils also sought clarity on whether there is budget for sport councils. They were told that there is none because is not yet legislated but the MEC could fund the districts and various local municipalities. The MEC told the delegation that he has been assisting sport councils but found out that they are not aware of their role. The delegation wanted to know from the sport councils how they interact with USSASA. Their response was that there is no clear interaction and there is in fighting over the same kids. Sport councils are vested with the authority of controlling. When White schools don’t want to play with Black schools the sport councils need to notify the MEC to be able to solve that. Sport councils also wanted to know whether they can be workshopped or trained on their role and relationship with USSASA.

The delegation was concerned that sport councils don’t get much support they deserve from the Department of Sport and Recreation. They were advised by the delegation to find coordinating structures linking with DSR. And also need to formulate sport councils in other three municipalities so that the four could form a district office. Provincial sport council is not fully represented and need to start from grassroots level.

The chief financial officer of the department welcomed the delegation on behalf of the MEC. The director of sport introduced the officials and handed over to the chairperson of the standing committee to welcome the delegation on a political capacity. Ms Dina Pule promised to assist the delegation wherever possible and would accompany them throughout the visit.

Mr. Komphela made introductory remarks on the visit by the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation. Mr. Gana, the Director of Sport presented on programmes and other challenges of the department.

S A Games is dedicated to the youth, disabled from municipal level to provincial level from ages 14 to 21. There are 21 municipalities participating. Federations and the academy play a role in the process of selections and athlete development. Participating codes are football, netball, tennis, swimming, athletics, rugby, cricket and hockey. Academy of sport nurtures the kids and creates opportunity for them to participate.

1. There is still struggle in ensuring creation of opportunity for all kids to participate in all wards.
2. No adequate resource to reach out to all.

Siyadlala programme identified four nodal points to alleviate poverty and crime hotspots identified are Vosman, Embalenhle, Kanyamazane and Siyabuswa. Siyabuswa has been identified specifically in conjunction with safety and security. 32 volunteers have been recruited at a stipend of R1 200.00 per month. Codes or activities that are involved are general gymnastics, indigenous games, aerobics and street ball. Due to limited resources participation is not happening as expected.

SRSA promised to provide equipment but has not yet delivered.

The department has 18 LSEN schools in the province and has created activities for the aged and differently challenged in partnership with health and social services. Workshops have been organized for the LSEN schools. The promotion of indigenous games focuses on 21 municipalities not on a massive scale. Provincial team of 48 represented the province in Limpopo. For the next five years, in the strategic plan will be promotion of indigenous games for youth, aged, inmates and disabled. Gold Planning Championships used to be played by advantaged and has been seen as recreational activity but now 18 kids are identified to participate in September at Pilgrim’s Rest.

Structures of 21 municipal sport and recreation councils will participate in a capacity building programme facilitated by the Mpumalanga Academy of Sport. This would bring impact and empowerment to the people. Linking sport councils and federations could improve development of sport. There is Maputo-Mpumalanga project emanating from signing of memorandum of understanding for cooperation and working relations in terms of sport and recreation. Maputo is very good in volleyball and we taught them netball in exchange of expertise. Maputo also taught the province how to track athletes that lose interest and disappear.

Youth festivals, HIV, AIDS awareness program, indigenous games and civil servants exchange programmes are explored. Handing over of facilities that deteriorate after that due to minimal budget in the municipalities. Some maintain the facilities very well. SRSA gave Mpumalanga R10,5m to develop nine (9) sport facilities in the province. Each municipality has women structure established (SAWSRA) with two regional structures already established. The intention is to encourage women and girls to participate in sport and recreation. Programmes are to be developed and implemented.

The delegation was very impressed with a programme called democracy walk that the youth, aged and the disabled were afforded an opportunity to participate within the 21 municipalities with the intention of promoting healthy lifestyles and celebrating the 10^th year of freedom and democracy. The challenge presently is to transform federations in order to transform the community hence they are assisted by the department financially.

The organizing will start soon and have mayoral cups, district and Premier provincial cups in preparations. The hosting of 2010 Soccer World Cup by the country has created an opportunity for football to grow. The province has a dream of having five players included in the national squad for 2010. The department has planned to have games in partnership with SAFA, municipalities and business. During the games SAFA and the Academy of Sport will play a critical role in identifying and nurturing talent. Capacity will also be built around managers and technical officials. Lottery has been trying to assist those in need of funds. The process of distributing funds needs to be decentralized.

The first game of Mvela Golden League was hosted in Mpumalanga and the department in partnership with other stakeholders played a critical role. For the next five years the department has in its strategic plan outlined how school sport is going to be promoted. In 2005 a sub-directorate will be established to deal with school sport specifically. A meeting took place between Culture, Sport and Recreation with Education to look at a draft memorandum of agreement to be signed by the two national ministers and have identified areas of focus for each department.

• The presentation did not mention sport councils and the question is how does the department assist sport councils? How is Black and White brought together to play?
• What mechanism is in place in keeping record of developed players, eg. Under 12 and 17? Is there a database in place?
• Any stadium earmarked for 2010?
• Where is sport academy or satellite established? Is korfball played in the province?

• Korfball is not a code but agreed on to be implemented on S A Games.
• Academy of Sport is housed by Tshwane University of Technology in Witbank but negotiating with municipality in Naledi who have facilities so that the province could move in there. Some municipalities are identified for satellites.
• 2010 will be hosted in Mbombela sport complex. A sight has been identified to build the facility after SAFA has pronounced.
• Records of development of athletes have not been able to be done. Challenge is experienced nationally and SASC is tasked to research a system to be used to allocate or track athletes. Mr. Komphela suggested that the province should learn from Cuba on tracking athletes.

The Chairperson of the standing committee on culture, sport and recreation opened the meeting and welcomed all present. Ms Pule introduced the national chairperson and asked him to address the meeting and the brief them on the delegation’s visit to the province.

MUSSA gave presentation as being affiliates of USSASA but preferred to form a provincial structure bound by USSASA Constitution. They gave a background that the structure was formed in 1994. In terms of integration they tried to unite all structures conducted by teachers. Children are participating but there are those few but 95% plays. Farm schools as well are represented in the structure. There are four regions according to DSR regions but will be amended to three. There are three council meetings and one Annual General Meeting per year.

The relationship with federations is that some members are serving in the federations as ex-officio members. Competitions are not run separately with federations and they are very supportive. The relationship with the government is very good with DSR and DOE and the things are shaping up now. No policy within the province spelling out the department’s role to MUSSA but only mutual agreement.

Source of income is sourced from affiliation from school level at R3 per child per school but does not meet all the requirements.

1. Affordability of children to purchase attire;
2. No equipment nor facilities;
3. Lack of human resources;
4. A need for qualified person to deal with school sport with expertise of sport not just anyone should be a requirement.
5. Officials are not retained.
6. Assistance from DSR and DOE is not offered within the province but only when going out of the province.
7. There should be a policy that binds people dealing with sport.
8. Some codes don’t want to be part of MUSSA but have their own and take some Black children from Model C but not developing other schools specific codes but do it on elite system.

1. MUSSA was not assisted by DSR last year but the year before were given R200 000. The deputy director that will be appointed to head school sport will assist the structure.

The programme is divided into two parts, i.e. severely and mild group. The mild have a problem to learn. The severe group is under DISSA and it is not easy to work with the two groups simultaneously. USSASA must come back from DISSA and pursue tournaments on their capacity. DISSA is taking them overseas that are the reason why they don’t want to be part of USSASA.

• No interaction with DSR.
• Each region must have a full time school sport officer.
• Principals that are not sport oriented don’t release teachers for sport activities.
• DOE fund education but cannot control teachers who are active at school. DOE seconded teachers to union and kept their positions but why is the same not done with school sport.

13. MEETING WITH MUNICIPALITIES (MMCs)

Mr. Makubula welcomed the delegation on behalf of the mayor of Mbombela Municipality. He assured the team that the municipality is very honoured by the visit and is bringing more insight on the people on what they should do best. He gave the Chairperson of the national Portfolio Committee to take them through the objective and what achievement they would like to see when leaving the area.

Mr. Komphela was delighted to notice that the community was very happy to meet the delegation and prepared to cooperate with information sharing session. After introductory remarks and full explanation of the purpose of the visit then sport councils and councilors from different municipalities were given an opportunity to share their views, give details on sport development programmes; challenges and successes they had experienced.

13.1 Mbombela municipality sport councils

• They have sport facilities belonging to the municipality that are manageable, sustainable and well maintained. There are three stadiums.
• There are development plans to reach other areas that are rural. Government of Germany has formed partnership with them and has accessed some funds to build swimming pools and other facilities.
• Youth is encouraged to participate in activities provided in the area. The only challenge is to build a stadium in the Mbombela municipality envisaged by SAFA in preparation for 2010 with inclusion of a broader infrastructure. They requested the PC to persuade high authorities to make that happen.
• They are looking forward at interacting with National Lottery Fund to get more funds.

The activity started after losing the first Bid for 2006 and after winning 2010 Mbombela was positioned in the Bid Book. 2010 council resolved to identify where the facility will be built in the area. In the council the technical committee will deal with infrastructure and marketing issues. Matola and Mbabane signed an agreement to have games played in Swaziland. KaNyamazane, Ntsikazi and Masoi have been renovated by grants received from DSR and SASOL.

• Council resolved that director of community services should take practise to other areas so that many communities could benefit.
• The council has not succeeded with National Lottery Fund.
• There is high expectation and demand on sport facilities since rural areas have nothing and they just need open grounds. Some grounds need to be upgraded to accommodate physically challenged who were not catered for previously. German partners are assisting a lot in development of sport financially.

• Is there any reason for not getting Lottery funds?
• How many facilities Mbombela municipality has, where, who funded them and are they fully utilized?
• Where does sport feature in the municipality’s IDP? Sport is supposed to be included. DSR need to interact with the municipality in terms of facilities and grants that could be obtained.
• What is the municipality doing in the case of leased facilities and not accessible by the community?
• The concern of the delegation was leases given to private clubs such as 99-year lease where they pay R1 a month. That is not accepted. If for instance a facility is leased to rugby is the municipality charging entry fees? How do the community able to access it?
• African Bid does not literally mean partnership with other African countries. Only South Africa is going to host alone.

1. The old government built all the facilities available. There is one professional facility in KaNyamazane that received R400 00 from DSR but the contractor messed up.
2. Matsulu is a soccer pitch that was funded by Sasol for R200 000.
3. KaBokweni was renovated for R1,2m, R500 000 was from municipality and R600 000 from DSR but still need a lot more. This facility needs grandstand, floodlights and the pitch is bumpy.
4. Ntsikazi stadium was launched for R1,2m for the first and second phase but one cannot agree with the situation DSR gave R1m to continue with upgrading.
5. Government departments need cooperation because more money is needed for grass and borehole. These facilities cannot be sustained due to over utilization.
6. DSR also gave R60 000 for other facilities but they are worn out due to over usage. Earlier on the municipality could not get funding due to the criteria or requirements from Lottery but now they can apply directly.
7. As all people are aware that councils spend more money on other things than sport. Priority is given to water supply and other things in this area. Sport appears as the seventh priority.
8. Lease had no conditions prior but conditions now are (i) government has first access; (ii) if council has a function it has first priority (iii) three days is open for any club to utilize the stadium. Those private owners of facilities used not to pay water and electricity but the 99-year lease is reduced to 5 years. Fees are charged but will be looking at charging a percentage from the entry fees.
9. The programme in place is to renovate soccer stadiums and it has been difficult to get everyone participating due to lack of facilities. An application to Lottery has been acknowledged.

• It managed to sustain sport council consisting of all races except Indians, even disabled persons.
• They also managed to get the facility to be accessed by everyone.

• Leasing of facilities to clubs is the main problem. For progress purposes all clubs are affiliating to Umjindi and if there is any grant received the sport council must be notified.
• Municipality is now compelled to acknowledge the sport councils after the President’s pronouncement.
• Members of municipality don’t attend the sport council meetings and place sport last. The sport councils’ biggest concern is IDP prioritization.
• The sport councils engaged the mayor when the portfolios were changed but were told to persevere and are not given platform to argue their case.
• Umjindi is the only municipality taking sport and culture without people and everything is done in town.
• The area needs swimming pools and other sport facilities.

The challenges mentioned by the sport councils are huge but one sided. The Standing Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture should follow up these concerns. Some aspects of the presentation require the Committee’s intervention. It is important that a mayoral committee has a sport desk.

Intentions of the IDP were to involve the grassroots and if the final decision is taken away from them it is not working. It should start from the ward upwards.

This facility was built by an NGO called Sports Outreach Coaches (SCORE) in 2001. The region is divided into sub regions. Mrs. Msibi, deputy chairperson in the center briefed the delegation about the facility. The community was invited during the erection of the facility and sport councils were also invited during the opening. Community clubs play handball and netball, and use this facility.

The facility prevents youth from committing crime. It is frequently used for indigenous games as well. It needs security fence, burglar bars and the boarding house is vandalized. There is no equipment, no hall, no toilets and no water or sanitation. Even the Department of Sport and Recreation cannot dig borehole because there is no water at all in the area. If boreholes can be provided the community would use that water for their household. There are 13 other facilities like that in the province. DSR promised to bring balls that were requested by Mrs. Msibi for the children.

This one is an indoor center built in 2001 for R500 000. It was re-ceilinged, put security bars and electricity, ablution block and caretaker house is built as well as gym. The second phase is going to build a stadium for R1, 5m from BSRP. Ablution block could not be accommodated due to size. R1, 5m have been utilised including fencing the facility.

1. There is a need to upgrade stadium especially grandstand
2. Need to create car parking
3. Lack of equipment.

2. MSUKALIGWA MUNICIPALITY

Ms Dina Pule briefed the members of the council about the visit and gave an opportunity to the councilor to welcome the delegation on behalf of the mayor.

Mr. Komphela sought clarity from the municipality on who is responsible or accountable for funds spent and if there are programmes in place that sport could benefit from. He further noted that in terms of funds that are going to be transferred to MIG, that was discussed intensively with the Minister of Sport and Recreation, Rev Stofile that once money is given, priorities should be revisited and money be channeled specifically. The Minister of Sport and Recreation has discussed with the Minister for Provincial and Local Government and agreed on ring fencing that money and it should be clearly indicated on what purpose the money is provided for.

The councilor noted that they should also be aware of that and see that the money is used properly and should also request progress reports on what has been done by the money. Councilors should also keep track of the process. He suggested an initiative or creative thinking to the people of the province that the teams that will be coming from other countries will depend on the province for producing their t-shirts and flags. He requested that people should be proactive, know the countries that will be playing there, their flag colours and kit. His initiative is to create more jobs.

School sport has a leg for football where they should develop their own programme with initiatives and not depend on SAFA. The province will also concentrate on players, coaches and other involved people for the preparations.

 

 

 

14.3 GOVAN MBEKI MUNICIPALITY

There are sport councils and one person in the municipality deals with sport matters. They are faced with a challenge of limited budget to ensure that sport councilors nurture the talent. Also the criterion required by National Lottery Fund for applications of the two year audited statement hinders the progress in the area. Mpumalanga Academy of Sport offered that those who don’t have bank statements could apply through them and that brought a relief. The area has good facilities but need to be upgraded to meet SAFA standards. IDP is there but the budget is too small to meet all the needs.

There are two programmes running and in the IDP the essential services are the priority therefore sport is number seven. The area is poor and that is why essential services are rated first. Even the available facilities are not enough.

3. MFANISENI MUNICIPALITY

BSRP was playing a crucial role and gave reports to the municipality, which kept track. Municipalities don’t have capacity to manage funds whether they are ignorant or are affected by the politics of the area that needs to be looked at. The representatives requested the possibility of BSRP to continue funding the building for sport.

Cabinet took a decision on transferring of building for sport funds to Local Government and which is closer to the people that must be taken into consideration and since it is not seen as a core function for sport and recreation. When budget was distributed it was evaluated and all of a sudden a jump came out and that projected that building of facilities had money that was not given before. Facilities are the responsibility of Local Government to maintain and if they build them they can easily maintain them.

The core function of sport is mass based participation and school sport programmes. The Portfolio Committee will keep a sharp eye on the transfer of those funds and will look at other ways of reviewing if there is no satisfactory progress.

• How is the transfer of funds going to be implemented by MIG especially for 2010?
• Are the same principles of BSRP going to be carried over to MIG? BSRP created jobs and what is MIG going to provide?
• Big businesses don’t support sport activities at all. Federations don’t channel enough money to the local teams.
• The area has one of the best facilities in the province and if that could host one practise session and coaching clinics for 2010 would be appreciated. The province must also come up with a programme that will include all the municipalities.

BSRP is incorporated to MIG according to IDPs and not all municipalities will benefit. A reporting mechanism will take place on monthly basis. IDPs would be submitted and backlog will be checked accordingly and those who deserve will be granted.

Agreement within the ministries for the person who was responsible for BSRP will still be available. All infrastructures will go through MIG. Then municipalities who have problems with their business people need to engage with them and this province should invite SAPPI and SELATI to the Sport Indaba that will be called by the MEC.

This structure is affiliated to USSASA but called MUSSA because it represents Mpumalanga United School Sport Association. They had a concern on interpretation of mass participation and the lack of school sport policy that need to be sped up. Under which department will school sport be placed? What will be the role of USSASA then?

USSASA differs from province to province where in some rural areas the structure does not appear. USSASA will still play a major role in schools. The Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation could not agree with what the Minister interprets mass participation but negotiations are still on.

The MEC could not meet with the delegation on the first day due to other commitments. He joined it at the last leg of the visit but appreciated the visit by the delegation and the matters raised by all concerned. He noted sport has organized various disjointed parts. He further mentioned the Olympic team that was sent to Athens as measurable objective to the achievement of the country. He informed the delegation that all issues raised are known but just need consultation with the stakeholders and put timeframes to achieve them. Need to develop a plan in order to link with MIG. Each municipality must form a council that will identify needs of each community. He concluded by thanking the delegation again for information shared with the province that shed some light and brought the province on the same wavelength of understanding issues around sport.

The delegation visited Gauteng and was invited by the MEC to Masakhane Games in Johannesburg Athletics Stadium. The purpose of the games is to identify talent from ward, district and provincial level in order to select the best for the province. Masakhane Games are part of South African Games but each province has its own name.

The delegation was impressed to see representivity of demographics. The participants were delighted during the presentations when they won medals.

The members of the delegation visited Freedom Park in Pretoria.

17. GAUTENG PROVINCE VISIT

Ms. Barbara Creesy, MEC extended a word of welcome to the delegation and appreciated them for attending the Masakhane Games. She took the members through the programmes of the department but stated that the Chief Director would present fully since she was meeting with the Premier on budget matters and could not be with the delegation for long. Mr. Vuyani Mpofu, chief director presented on key areas of the activities and referring to the objectives stated by the Portfolio Committee for the visit.

Mr. Mpofu noted that Masakhane Games is used as a spring ball to select the best for the province and sport academy is about development of athletes and coaches. The province has eight sport codes in the academy. Promotion of life style is under recreation from preschool, caregivers up to inmates. Gauteng participated in the Indigenous Games in Polokwane. Eight hubs have been identified with appointed coordinators in the province. A document on school sport is out to revive the Memorandum of Understanding in Gauteng.

There is a concern of overlapping of boundaries and local structures are lacking capacity.

The Chairperson commended the presentation as informative and well presented. He gave the other provinces’ views on the Cabinet’s decision to transfer facilities to municipalities as a big mistake. He then needed Gauteng’s view on the matter whether they view it as realistic or what. He shared experience gathered from other provinces on White former Model C schools that play their own games and wanted to determine whether the same happens in the province. He opened a debate on how to resolve that problem and their views to enable the delegation to regulate or introduce legislation that could enforce to remedy the situation.

MEC suggested that BSRP should be influenced by the budget for 2004/05 and the question of transfer is more complex. Johannesburg has a capacity and cannot take a blanket decision on this matter. Metros have capacity but issue is prioritization of that capacity. Another question that one must ask is whether the facilities are running sport programmes or weddings and funerals and that is a challenge that has to be confronted.

The province held meetings with the municipalities and with the hubs to strategize the objectives. She mentioned a need to look at the cost of government when building facilities whether there are programmes to go with. She was delighted to notice that the delegation is keen to address the racial issue affecting school sport. She alluded to the fact that its only minority white kids that participated in Masakhane Games. She further mentioned that SARFU select from matches played during Easter weekend by white scholars. She promised to meet with the coordinators that organize tournaments to determine exactly what they are meant for. The tournament played at Krugersdorp during Easter pretended to have Black schools while those scholars are from those Model C schools.

3. Comments from the delegation

USSASA is supposed to coordinate school sport but some schools are not participating. What is the role of USSASA in this province? What has been noticed is that they become organizers of tournaments. What challenges are you faced with either than equipment for 2010?

 

4. Response from the province

The hubs are not fully operating; there is a need for sustainability. The hubs are a good initiative but it is not user friendly driven and they are placed where there is no stability. Even to implement them is a problem. Hubs should be building sport organizations and should belong to certain community. The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture have been looking at expanding hubs but don’t see sustainability.

USSASA. The absence of national policy has helped people to seize the gaps. Civil society took the process when USSASA was formed. School sport was delegated to background of issues and has two legs i.e. education and sport. Schools were faced with problem where non examined were taken out including physical education. There is no certainty on school sport. Various provinces have taken various agreements on sport issues and on their MOUs. Department of Education (DOE) together with USSASA has run school sport and that need to be revitalized. DOE is a custodian of curriculum and a responsibility of what is happening in school.

The delegation then further commented that SRSA has R9m and gave R1m to each province without guidance and never provided clear plan of action and sustainability. Hubs are to be owned by everyone.

Ms Creesy responded by pointing out that there is no problem with the hubs in the Metros and cannot presume that people will come because there is equipment. Tendering has been centralized and the department is not clear about that but they were only requested to forward needs.

The delegation sought clarity on what happened to communities staying far from the hubs and how do people access those hubs. A mention was made about School Governing Bodies (SGBs) who close or lock facilities for people not to access them.

The MEC responded that they wanted to have central hub with satellites. She cited an example of a model in Cape Town where they negotiated with communities on how to use the facilities. She was concerned that school sport is not feasible to be SRSA’s responsibility especially around issues of safety of kids that can be very complex. Another concern was the tight budget that DOE has and teachers are not expected to work in the afternoons and the question is where is SRSA going to get money to fund those teachers.

The leader of the delegation appreciated the input and suggested that the province should interact with people and give their different views. He mentioned that the Portfolio Committee is waiting for the MOU agreement to be tabled before it. Local community clubs are faced with problems of accessing National Lottery Fund and he wanted to know how that issue affects Gauteng.

The MEC reported that Dr Phaahla, CEO of South African Sport Commission gave an undertaking that the Lottery will be going on road shows and have not seen that yet in the province. The crucial question is budgeting cycle where the department needs to look at the gaps where Lottery could come in to assist. But some organizations with genuine programmes don’t qualify for Lottery grants due to the requirement of the two-year audited bank statement. She thanked the delegation for the visit and saw it as a good initiative. The leader of the delegation also thanked the MEC for accepting the invitation to host them and suggested that schools should visit Freedom Park frequently.

The Chairperson of the Standing Committee in the province welcomed guests from three Metros. He briefly gave an overview objective of the visit by the Portfolio Committee. He mentioned the importance of cooperative governance on other spheres’ priorities and responsibilities in order to have synergy on what everyone do. He assured that all stakeholders present in that meeting were invited to interact with the delegation to get advice, share ideas and also to strengthen relationship between the spheres of government.

Mr. Komphela addressed the stakeholders and remarked that the Portfolio Committee has a constitutional mandate to do oversight and gave full purpose of the visit. He requested all the participants to present on their issues or activities related to sport.

Ms Nyatlo presented on the following:

• Sport and recreation falls under Social Development.
• Swimming pool has been completed in Orange Farm, which is an informal settlement.
• Johannesburg municipality has eleven (11) regions. The strong focus is in Soweto and informal settlement for development.
• Challenges: most of the programmes are decentralized.
• They submit to the MEC’s office municipal needs and they look at the motivation also approve with conditions and don’t interfere with tenders.
• MOU is available and clear on distribution of funds.
• Cooperate governance – good relationship few areas need protocol tightened up and would appreciate national committee could give more time to prepare for presentation. She also requested that national should expedite government structure for 2010 since municipalities were told to behave and stick to the Bid Book. The municipality is not going to build any facility but to upgrade.
• Federations – they must be brought to order and cannot tolerate SAFA who comes to them at the eleventh hour for hosting an event.

• Do you get funding from Lottery? What was it for?
• The delegation has noticed that councilors broadly don’t understand the significance of the State of Nation of Address. What is the role of the Department of Sport and Recreation for SETAs in the province e.g. THETA to assist them on what SETA is all about.
• Municipalities have presented best approach when it comes to sport but DSR don’t have clear programme stating that they are starting from which level to what level.
• Give specific examples on transformation by federations that you commented on.
• Are local communities accessing municipal facilities?

• Johannesburg relooked at Expanded Public Works Programme in line with the President’s State of Nation Address. When departments go for tenders they should look at the programmes.
• Mayor decided to have R110m for community based programmes where each ward was given R1m and they were asked on how they are going to spend it.
• 90% chosen was sport and recreation that would be delivered 2004/05.
• Accessibility – disestablished facility management committee precisely as to who took charge facilities from the old order. After that decision people have been threatened for their lives. 90% of those people have been dismissed and that is why they were disestablished. In white areas they are privatized but the municipality is dealing with it and is a major challenge.

Regional director has discretion of exempting people from tariff fees. It is not clear on accessing funds from Lottery, SREC partnered to get money for Meadowlands.

The presenter gave a political overview on what the municipality is doing. They have health, environment and tourism, sport, art and culture and social science together. Sport and recreation is managed by Housing. 400 facilities are managed from national to underdeveloped. Social Development enjoys 12% of municipality budget.

Policies – there is sport policy approved by council last year. The municipality has managed to normalize tariffs and upgraded them where 100% discount is afforded to disadvantaged communities. User policy – starting a policy where facilities are used and municipality have to maintain after that has looked at community events. Some facilities are not complete. Sum of R6m was received from the province. There is nothing happening at Themba Stadium but H M Pietjie Stadium does not qualify for FIFA because of their change rooms.

Some of the facilities were inherited and a legal team started to review lease agreements owned by private clubs paying only R40 per annum and also exempted from paying lights and water. This user policy is going to assist in accessing these types of facilities. Nissan sponsors mayoral soccer club and kids get everything from playing to practicing. There are city-to-city events happening. Elderly people celebrated international sport day. There is a healthy relationship with Northern Cricket and Blue Bulls and they started with development programs in the community.

Hurdles – sport officials with qualification of sport management have never been able to use it. That has been looked at to put people where they belong. There are exchange programmes exchanged with Switzerland. The cross border issue is very slow. They agree to fund the facility and after fencing nothing happened, e.g. Garankuwa and Mabopane.

2010 – office of the mayor has task team i.e. department, tertiary education, federations etc to meet and look at the infrastructures for the preparation of 2010 Soccer World Cup host. USSASA and the municipality have a good relationship. Got R500 000 from Lottery and were told that they don’t give money to municipalities but that has changed.

• Each province will be given an opportunity to host games but it is likely that only Port Elizabeth and Northern Cape will build new stadiums.

Vosloorus is developed and after completion will be inspected by FIFA. Minor projects with major implications e.g. swimming pools. On 5 November there will be a launch of a programme with parks and sport. Mass participation has 10 – 15 000 kids participated in SA Games last year and 500 were chosen to participate in East London.

There is no relationship with Tennis South Africa. Golf is developed and funded by municipality and professional golfers are encouraged to adopt youth. Four have been adopted. Kids from 3 – 6 years participate in Kiddies Olympics where they play all types of games. Aerobics are linked with Siyadlala Programme. Also employees have inter city games.

USSASA has no direct relationship with the municipality but have direct one with Gauteng School Sport. All 99-year leased facilities have been audited and have only 2 that are 30 year leased. When the lease expires it is not reviewed. Every rented facility is on municipality tariffs. Mvela clubs and other developing clubs have access without paying tariffs. Lottery – never had access but spoken to Swimming South Africa to assist with swimming pool in Germiston that will be a high profile indoor facility.

The municipality is considering having operational funding as well as for personnel, resources and machinery. High percentage of lack of staff is a challenge that results at facilities being vandalized without being managed. There is also lack of recreational officers.

Makhulong is in the Bid Book for practice purpose that will attract crowds during the 2010 host. Roads to stadium also need to be taken care of as part of preparation package. The municipality will submit a presentation and master plan. Ekurhuleni is putting up cricket pitches. Sport boundaries – relationship is very strong and good. Facilities are there but their boundaries are different from municipality to municipality that creates conflict to municipalities. Legacy programme assisted in the multipurpose and took up with cricket pitch.

• Who are the main participants from the community?
• Need to concentrate on low level grounds to accommodate poor communities where you grade the field and kids play.

• Sport cut across political agenda. Sport councils are non-partisans. Games are played across party lines.
• Hindrances to accessibility
• Fees are exorbitant
• Disability
• Lack of facilities

Housing should be approached when building houses to include sport facilities in the plan. National agenda should lead to the unification of sport codes. Lottery fund application form is very complicated. Federations need to look at transformation issue. No flow of information only those who attend national meetings are informed. Part of USSASA and federations are conflicting instead of complementing each other.

Mr. Fani Mokoena, the deputy chairperson of the Gauteng School Sport welcomed the delegation and members of the sporting codes. He handed over to Mr. Moodley to present on behalf of Gauteng USSASA.

• Key performance area:

1. Success factors

• The province has 12 districts and grouped together with Gauteng School Sport council being the decision makers. USSASA is a national body so the province preferred to be called Gauteng School Sport.
• It has restructured themselves to this name in 2002 using their own logo until the province comes up with a provincial official logo.
• It is supported by Gauteng Department of Education and starting to align public schools participating in school sport.
• There is a regulation dealing with international tours.
• Boundaries are very challenging.
• Majority of the districts have mirror imaged the plan.

• Government cannot just dissolve a structure without proposed future for the next one.
• Changes have happened since the inception of USSASA but it is correct for the delegation to examine what is going on from USSASA stakeholders on what should be happen.
• Is USSASA ready to meet challenges of transforming school sport nationally? We are here to hear on how you envisage the implementation. Need to hear your challenges when engaged in tournaments.
• Model C schools select their own with the majority of players in the team from your province under USSASA banner.
• Are you affiliated to USSASA? What about 30% not affiliated according to your presentation? Are you affiliated per region or per school?
• DISSA vs school sport. DISSA don’t want to be part of USSASA because you can’t take them to Athens. What makes DSR to delay realignment of borders?

• Gauteng school sport is an affiliate of USSASA but don’t want to duplicate the name.
• The relationship with local government will be aligned should the province have one local structure but the relationship is very good but not tighten up.
• Schools have 12 districts and they affiliate to the province and then to national.
• Farm schools are clustered in 5 or 10 according to their demarcation boundaries.
• Affiliation fee is R600 per school.
• Transformation – English and Afrikaans schools have historically been next to each other but never played together. That is a long inherited problem.
• Federations – they are caught over colour issue. They don’t look at ex-model c schools kids that can produce the quality we looking for e.g. cricket. The quota should go lower down to achieve success. Transformation is not happening as wished. Federations should have age levels and some people should deal with some ages.
• There is a need to bring all partners on board and to turn all schools into academy of sport. All medals came from gymnastics in 1999 All Africa Games.
• 30% non-affiliates have loopholes e.g. sport policy is not available or guidance to align activities taking place.
• Schools are divided into categories – private schools have lieu way and see no reason to play with the public schools.
• Metro local government and DSR have sport desks. When a child gets involved in a club don’t want to come back to play for school and school loses that kid.
• The way sport is managed at townships is not good, next-door schools don’t want to play against each other. Those with money go to play without even telling Gauteng Department of Education and that is wrong.
• LSEN vs USSASA – this is a big challenge and they both need to speak in one language not as normal sport or disabled sport but all under sport. DISSA is recognized as other sport codes. The relationship between DISSA and GDE – Department of Sport and Recreation, GDE and LSEN were called in a workshop in Warmbaths to outline racial divide. Only one sector attended. DISSA restructured and reformalised but has not come out with the one sector. Have component that links with LSEN. Number of meetings was held but the gap is still there.
• April GSS met with DISSA and reamplified the alignment of school sport on how to harness funding collectively. DISSA have adults and scholars brought together. This needs to be separated in order for learners to go to school structures.
• GDE commented that learner has no pride in terms of participation because they got banned before winning a medal, who takes responsibility? Need to deal with age group at schools and the learner should be handed over to be monitored or nurtured instead of getting money first.
• Power- this has to change with the changing of times and not cling on the past powers. All must be joining hands to formulate one sport structure.
• GDE is committed to unification until the two departments, i.e. SRSA and DOE come up with the belonging of school sport. Model C go with what SGBs decide.
• Gaps are created due to full-time jobs on part-time basis.
• GDE has not handed Section 21 (i)(i) (b) to the school sport but still in discussion.
• Accountability – sport is understood to be the competency of DSR in the province. Dealing with school sport management and functionality should be given to GDE. The province is ready to move under DOE or SRSA but with personnel to manage school sport.
• During tournaments an educator has to hold meetings but principals are not allowing them due to the core function of teachers is teaching. A proposal is that two people be appointed to deal with codes and be allocated to each district. Higher Education Institution is not well coordinated because some schools fall under Further Education and Training (FET).

The director from DSR highlighted that there was a policy put in place but took four turns and still is not right. Policy at national level is not available to address these issues. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be revisited and streamlined to Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).

Blue Bulls in Gauteng North was very successful with National Sport Congress that changed to National Sport Council and then changed again to Gauteng North Sport Council. They are totally committed to the call of unifying communities particularly the farm schools in conjunction with GDE. Correctional Services have juveniles participating in sport and see it as a strong point to rehabilitae them. The only funds they get are from Vodacom and Lottery and nothing from government. They have forum with Tshwane Municipality and working well. It used to be difficult to bring wards together but wards now are represented. Districts have three local sport councils in charge of the whole area. DSR and sport council formed a forum.

Some sport federations are doing a good job, some are not involved but need to identify those in the rural areas and if there is no activity they have to take it up. There are many volunteers in the townships but are not trained. There is not enough talent identification and development going on and no sufficient follow up to develop those identified talents. There is SSASSU, USSASA, DISSA in the structures. The structure controls colours and emblem for Gauteng North. Sport federations pay R150 per federation to register per year.

• Talent is identified from rural areas but later is not supported or monitored by the structure.
• There are no funds to take the participants internationally.

They used to belong to central Gauteng when it died they formed their own with their Constitution and 31 sport codes. There is no fund from the government. Affiliates pay R200 per year and sport councils also pay R200 a year. Cricket doesn’t share what they have or even assist in putting sport facilities. Cricket facilities are not accessible. Those involved with table tennis from Ekurhuleni have a problem of funding and facility.

There are clubs in the area like Thema, Katlehong and Thembisa who cannot even pay R50 a year because of poverty. They don’t have resources to develop people. Women cricket in Ekurhuleni is represented but struggling with facilities and finances. The general problem around the townships and the gap between the municipality and DSR is that sport councils are not recognized and so they lose interest especially athletes. Government is using soccer by spending own money and to being recognized or appreciated. Children are also transported by the councils’ money from their own pockets.

During NSC sport was vibrant but when SASC came in it brought commercialization. Benchmarking and partnership with other countries was good but without future for sport councils. Sport councils are just public relations officers who used to have exchange programmes without funding but used to raise funds.

Challenges:

• Partnership with federations is non-existent. If they are brought to the townships they are concerned about their safety more than understanding where the players come from.
• Fencing is the new sport funded by Swedish government. People managing sport should know about the codes they manage.

• During Barberton council Ekurhuleni municipality used to work hand in hand and why is that not happening now?
• What is the relationship with academy of sport? Any data for athletes for the purpose of monitoring?
• The delegation highlighted the fact that the President did not make a mistake when identifying sport for unifying people.
• UCB identified facilities for Legacy Programmes after 2003 Cricket World Cup. Where are they built?

• Successes – assisted with metro regional games and Masakhane Provincial Games.
• Transformation and development officer has been appointed.
• GDE

• Issue of dictatorship on where they want to plough their money
• It is difficult to develop kids and then must go to national and must give R1 800 to attend the tournament
• The structure needs synergy to account on development and activities i.e. structuring according to ward levels. For example, look at the obesity of children because they are not involved but sit and watch TV.
• Development – weakness is that development does not exist in federations GDE has shifted from development to education and training.
• Facility management – an audit was made on how much is spent on refurbishment.
• Skills transfer – federations should be held accountable because they know how.
• DSR- the department should take responsibility on what they do.

• It is the newest metro. Sport councils are not getting the attention they used to get because the metro is in a transitional phase.
• The relationship is good.
• The municipality is looking at channeling the funds via the sport councils in the next financial year. They will ensure that the sport councils will be getting the recognition they deserve.

• New national structure in plan (SPORTCO) is because of the failure and non-performance of SASC. The concern is the route taken again for coming up with a new structure instead of identifying the cause of failure.
• Academies of sport recognize only 8 codes and support only those.
• A recommendation was made that sport should be part of the curriculum to sow the seed to keep kids away from streets and drugs.
• JHB municipality suggested that Batho Pele be struck down because it does not serve the purpose.
• Government must come with national programmes that will be followed by provinces.
• GDE have trained 6 000 educators on foundation and semi foundation courses through Dipapadi programme to identify learners who are good in sport but not good intellectuals that should be allocated in a certain programme where they excel most.
• Gauteng North and University of Pretoria have an outstanding laboratories but for testing session one has to have R2 000 per person. That is one of the big challenges.
• Cuba has a very good physical education programme that we can learn from.

• Lawrence presented to the delegation that cricket is going through restructuring with all role players involved. The biggest challenge is finance.
• 67 coaches have been employed in 8 townships on seasonal basis on 6-month contracts. The number is cut into half due to financial constraints now. Kids are playing external fixtures at primary and high schools.
• There are 67 clubs from schools with Blacks in the premier league clubs. Academy looks after elite players. Under 19 A and Under 15 teams were selected on merit.

• What do you think should happen when picking 50% advantaged and 50% disadvantaged?
• What about too many Black clubs?
• Where do these kids go to school?
• Why are these kids not going to senior team? How successful are your development programmes?
• Gauteng is the richest in the country. How do you prioritise? Are the amateurs getting less and professionals getting more?
• How can you keep encourage interest in cricket?
• Is UCB looking at who is running school sport? Is franchise issue addressing the fundamental issue of UCB?
• What is the relationship between UCB, USSASA and sport councils?
• How far are you with transformation?
• Are you prepared to take two full years to focus on townships and forget about powerful Model C schools?
• What is your time frame to achieve represented demographics of the country? In which year? Have you been transferring skills or transforming?
• When talking about integration, how often do township schools play against other schools?

• Programmes should be set up through statistics of kids who were selected. Academy programmes are important to track those kids. The union used to pick kids and forgot about them later. Also selected clubs need sustainability. Soweto has only 2 stadiums. Transport is also a major problem.
• Lenasia is leading and most of the kids have been developed through the academy. Quality has been brought from the academy.
• UCB came up with a bursary to Model C schools and also creating cricket schools within the township with the help of MTN.
• Its one of the situations that is a major challenge, it’s a movement of professional players. Outcome will be reflected in the next coming years.
• Local talent is there and local development nurtures them,
• In the past cricket gave people biscuits and juice but still need to focus on building and resources
• Need to get Education on board to balance since they have 45 primary schools and 10 high schools in the area
• Amateur cricket needs to show growth in resources.
• Cricket is unique because it takes the whole day so to create enthusiasm one needs to ensure continuity.
• There are two school bodies, i.e. primary and high schools led by teachers also for financial support.
• It’s difficult to answer about the franchise because Franchise Company has separate board of directors. In terms of players UCB has 6 franchises with 11 in the amateur and 5 teams, that is quality cricket. There are 67 players playing for 1^st class compared to 33 last year.
• For transformation to be achieved need keenness. Many coaches are taken by schools because coaches in the programme are of high quality,
• For time frame, probably in the next four years but cannot give assurance to develop another Graeme Smith in Kagiso.
• There is transformation process where leaders are busy with elite players.
• Half of the board is Black and believe that transformation is happening.
• Schools play regular fixtures against each other. 24 teams are sent out of Gauteng leagues to play consistently.

• In the province there are three provinces dealing with cricket, e.g. Titans etc. All sporting codes are ignoring political boundaries but cricket board will answer to that. National federations divide the boundaries and differ from code to code. Some have money to push their own agendas.

• The national government funds for swimming programmes in four regions, i.e. Sedibeng, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Eastern Gauteng. Kagiso have a problem to run their programmes and how the coaches are paid is another problem.
• 15 to 30 swimmers swim at entry-level competitions because there are only White swimmers who go to national competitions.
• The area is engaged in learnership programmes training set up. That will be linked up to OBE and certificates will be awarded. There is lack of strong administration in the Black communities and no passion for swimming.
• Umsobomvu have been requested to lobby youth on board and through Gauteng academy sum of R600 000 has been received.
• The intention now is to track national gold, bronze and silver medallists to come on board as role models. One swimmer is selected to Commonwealth Games in November.

• Were you represented in national competitions?
• As far as swimming is concerned. During Olympics they complained of facilities and competition as far as elite is concerned.

• Yes, 3 disadvantaged were represented, i.e. Gauteng from Soweto. Four swimmers are paid for fully in the academy and 40 others in the academy are from other areas. From the four two are from Soweto.
• Swimming South Africa has training centers in the universities and don’t want to source high performance centers. There are facilities but they are not strategically placed but any high level facility.
• There is level 1,2,3 and senior national competition that qualify to go to Olympics. To keep the four swimmers in the high performance center costs R300 000 a year.
• There are four affiliates in the province and trying to buy-in and conform to the four regions. There is a programme in Sharpeville and the payment is R1 500. Pools are heated.
• There is transport available for Sebokeng to go and swim in Vereeniging. Adult swimming have instructors who have sourced profit out but don’t have resources to sustain adult programmes so it belongs to private owners.
• Swimming pools were not available at schools in the past so DOE should arrange water awareness programmes and swimming lessons.
• Gauteng School Sport is affiliated to Swimming S A but schools sport run its own sport programmes without federations.

• In terms of the Constitution of school sport says that all school sport codes Swimming SA is the competency of the province so school sport should sit in the executive of Swimming S A but this has not been successful. It looks as if its competition between school sport and federations. Unless demarcation comes out clearly the problem will still be there.
• GDE is ready and waiting for federations. Swimming S A programmes don’t match with theirs but there is synergy.

• Central Gauteng has provincial structure with 5 satellite regions. They also have four-year programme aiming to see players in 2007 playing for the country. One player qualified for the national team.
• There are problems within the region. Two leagues are running, one is recognized and one not. There are 8 courts and change rooms. Soweto is running the league and controls the region.
• Moving White players to the township is such a hassle. DSR came up with academy that brought growth. It was a hassle before to get players from USSASA. USSASA has got good players but the bond is to be strengthened. The eight courts cannot be used due to leasing condition and are not affiliated to Netball S A

• When was the lease granted?
• Have you aligned Netball according to demarcation?
• Where do you put DISSA in the academy of swimming?

• The lease started three years ago.
• They play social netball not affiliated to Netball South Africa. There are six regions in Gauteng and netball operates according to the regions.
• DISSA is affiliated to Swimming South Africa and swim with the structures. DISSA need to align themselves with provincial and local structures.

Ray presented on behalf of the structure. He noted that it is self-funding presently but the department promised to provide for money. It is a small union with 16 clubs and has been developing for 12 years. Hockey as a structure has changed from grass floor to synthetic and this is the only union that does not have synthetic floor. The club at Thembisa is training in a tennis court.

The development programme is funded by union funds generated from the club. Union pay certain percentage to SA Hockey. Resources are very limited. Coaches are volunteers and assist where they can. Allister has started an academy for the disadvantaged. The problem is that players are lost due to lack of extra turf but started with junior hockey with 30 Blacks out of 100 players.

Facilities in Ekurhuleni are deteriorating. The union used to have 28 clubs but now there is only 14. The application to Lottery for synthetic track was unsuccessful. When USSASA took over boundaries they took out players from the union. Youngsters have no financial means, they have been funded and they play home games due to lack of facilities in Thembisa. The union paid off Under 21 when they were sent away to play. The board has 3 Whites and 3 Blacks. The area starts from Rygerpark to Benoni.

• Do the clubs play against each other?
• Why have you not mentioned West Rand?

• Yes, they are invited to squad training to further their knowledge in hockey. Those who used to play on grass need to be retrained on synthetic track.
• The union had successful tournament where a side was picked to play in S A Games.
• GDE and GSS added that in terms of demarcation of federations and name choice is different. So there is non-alignment of boundaries by federations.

• This NGO is for sport development concentrating on developing multi sport codes. Presently is operating in Katlehong and Limpopo. It has introduced soccer, tennis, hockey, but will soon be introducing athletics and others.
• The organization looks at facilities in the community and speaks to kids and communities on their needs. Also approaches local communities to request to use those under utilized facilities. It has approached the regional office of Sport and Recreation for database for coaches and the next step is to go to federations for accreditation to the codes they coaching. Coaches will also receive life skills training and also with children for 30 minutes discussions.
• Way forward is to take key learning around the country. For multi sport approach they would take group of kids in the area to play all sport and look at what sport is much favoured. They have noticed that out of 293 kids that played in their presence don’t know any other sport either than soccer and netball.
• They have employed 63 unemployed people as coaches but funding from Msobomvu has now stopped. Previously Msobomvu funded training of coaches and now is funded by High Performance Center in Limpopo. Kids contribute and that money pays the coach and that allows the ward to perpetuate its own code.

• Have you been approached by the department to assist?

• Yes. The organization has presented a document to the department stating how to start the process. If hubs are changed to franchises can show sustainability and its not a self sustainable model. Presently, the organization is concentrating on unemployed people who are interested to be trained in coaching.
• There are two different approaches on those kids who can afford or parents who can afford to pay R10 a month.

The delegation advised Sport for All not to close doors to those who cannot afford to pay but devise ways of dealing with the challenge.

Mr. Mtshali gave a brief background on karate and challenges that the code is experiencing. He offered himself to be a development officer of karate due to lack of Black people in the executive. 95% involved in karate are Whites and it has been like that for forty years. A number of Blacks dropped drastically after 1994 and the reason for that discouragement is not known.

There are two sections with four blocks. Blacks are still followers not leading in karate. There is no financial support. In terms of facilities are not available but using schools and churches. In 24 years Springs councils has not assisted but the community and improved the shack that was given. Karate association has been suspended due to mismanagement. Presently there is a big problem and he requested when Karate as federation is invited to the Portfolio Committee karate blocks must be invited too to address the challenges.

West Rand municipality is comprised of 4 municipalities and facilities are well maintained. Westonaria have facilities owned by mines and are not used because people are not interested in sport. Mogale have 15 sport facilities, 2 netball courts, 2 tennis, 2 basketball, 1 volleyball and those not utilized like tennis are deteriorating. In Kagiso the department gave R432 000 for upgrading. Lusaka is an informal settlement and it’s difficult to identify areas to sport facilities because it is meant for agriculture.

There is a stadium identified that could be cheaper to use and close to schools. Two areas in Mogale city construction of sport fields are taking place. Randfontein have recreational center used to be beer hall but was revamped in 2001 funded by SRSA. Randfontein has a problem with by-laws and ladies league with Sanlam and MTN are the only ones to access those fields because they don’t have sport forum and are outside the sport councils. In Westonoria sum of R175 000 was provided for developing tennis court, hall and gymnasium in 2002.

Challenges:

• The negotiations are going on with mining companies who have sport fields in their properties and the municipality to access the facilities to the community.
• Khutsong stadium was built but vandalized and that stadium needs funding for upgrading. Khutsong must be encircled into a safe area.
• Wedela has no sport facility owned by the council but utilizing school grounds that gets vandalized too. They requested the delegation to focus on Lusaka that links the town and township but without a facility. Wedela was previously a mine quarters but in 1995 declared a residential area with a municipal status.
• Elandsvlei is developed and taken care of by community.
• Meraforong in Western Deep Level owned by Anglo Mines is not utilized and sustainability is questionable.
• Green Park used to be minority area for coloureds and now is no longer only for coloureds.

The delegation sought clarity on whether they have applied from the Lottery Fund. The response was that only sporting codes but municipality has not. West Rand cannot manage to sustain facility handed over to them.

.

• Powers and functions. Most facilities fall under local municipalities.
• School sport is operating in isolation and not with federations.
• Cross border issue. Federations are not demarcated according to local municipality demarcations.
• Allocation of funding. The province gives money to local without the district knowing. It must go through district and then to local.
• Maintenance and upgrading. Provision has been made for development as a strategy on IDP to assist local municipality on maintenance.
• Lack of facilities. Most that have been provided are overused.
• Accessibility of facilities – 99-year lease agreement is dealt with to have all facilities accessible to all.

• Have you inherited 99-year lease and what is being done about it?
• How do you handle mass participation?
• Has Emfuleni council got money from Lottery?
• What about swimming pool in George Thabe? What is happening with Sharpeville? Are people accessing games played in Vaal?

• The municipality took a decision with sport officers and legal advisers to assist them on how to deal with the leased facilities.
• A policy has been developed on a maximum of 10 years to lease starting with 5 years but 10years is only approved on strong adequate motivation.
• There is close relationship with federations working through local structures and have municipal back up for ward activities.
• Sum of R10m is put aside to look at the whole maintenance at different levels.
• George Thabe swimming pool is part of the upgrading plan.
• A heritage site is completed with all the history of the area. Imbizos will be held for awareness campaign on facilities that are going to be erected.
• A request on the table is to provide transport for the people to be able to access games that are played there.

The cost for hiring of the facility is very high. Transport department is not having enough money to pay buses. Development cannot sustain the programme due to high amount charged for coaching. Coordinators and committees are working hand in hand with districts. They could not support and raise money for volleyball to go to national competition. All schools affiliate to USSASA but struggle to integrate soccer and rugby on the other side.

Grassroots level support facilities are needed even if provided with mini courts. They are pleased to have human movement back to curriculum. With integrated leagues, farms play league on their own because the area is vast. League for volleyball has a problem with White boys that cannot be integrated to soccer they don’t want to play it. Costs are charged varies at R1 5000 deposit by local town council excluding lights i.e. Mogale city.

Green Hills charges R3 000 but its not utilized for school sport. Facilities at school are very good but are monopolized by schools and some schools don’t want to share. Three schools benefited from National Lottery and schools built in squatter camps have no facilities.

• There are a number of NGOs that can assist in training of coaches.
• DOE exempt poor kids from paying fees but why is the same not done in sport?

It is the biggest geographically with more farm schools. Opportunities are created for kids to participate but if they want to go somewhere they need transport that costs a lot of money. It is impractical to create facility to each farm school hence the numbers are less than 30 to some schools. Soshanguve Township need track, fields and basic needs e.g. water, electricity and toilets are hired during games. City schools are not part of USSASA. When planning for zonal activities one need facilities.

• It has been very strong for the past 20 years for juniors and seniors on national level.
• Development is continuous starting at 5 – 6 years old. There are 300 amateur clubs made of 6 regions. 99% of facilities are privately owned and very few supplied by municipalities but nothing by schools.
• They have approached 24 schools with a request to bring boxing in schools only two replied and they would like to encourage boxing in schools but there are exams to pass for boxers. Referees have to be qualified strictly. There are not enough facilities and some clubs applied to join the organization but were refused hence there is not enough space.
• Lottery gave them R42 000 and the relationship with DSR is very healthy. Recreation centers charge exorbitant fees for hiring their halls. The cost is R500 to hold tournaments.

• The Chairperson, Ronel Nel noted that netball league is doing very well in the township but difficult to motivate them to participate without incentive. They don’t want to play for USSASA but rather for Love Life. Finals are played from provincial level.
• Facilities are every expensive when having tournaments at +- R1 500.
• Not all Model C schools are Whites only anymore and all schools are encouraged to play netball.

• Everybody is competing but the problem is lack of facilities and equipment for the previously disadvantaged.
• Also transport is needed for the kids to take them to where facilities are and also sponsorship is needed.
• Another big challenge is demarcation.
• There are serious problems for fees, traffic officers during road running races.
• The organization doesn’t need too much equipment but need to accommodate athletes but traffic officers don’t pitch up after they have been paid to prevent accidents for athletes.

• Nosipho Ntozini is the deputy programme officer of table tennis who took the delegation through their challenges and successes. People identify table tennis as a minor sport. They are not working hand in glove with schools.
• Only Whites are catered for and townships have no clubs. At school training is done to organize tournament at local level because of finances. They suggested that the federation should work closely with school sport.
• In the disadvantaged areas equipment cannot be paid for and requested the national delegation to focus on table tennis at schools.
• Lottery gave them equipment last year and this year also received money from Lottery. Whites dominate in the board.
• The problem is DSR and DOE that identified 4 areas for development earlier and dropped without reasons.
• There are plenty of facilities but there are no tables and boards.

• Mr. Mahlangu noted that their code experiences a problem of fees charged for the venues amounting to R3 000 sometimes for indoor facilities. In Orlando the charge is R1 000.
• The club has been developing handball courts and equipment, i.e. balls, poles and nets.
• Transport costs for playing tournaments is expensive.
• Ekurhuleni have sport councils comprises White committee and they have meetings at night knowing that people from the townships cannot attend those meetings due to transport problems.
• DOE tried to talk to the committee about development but have been sent from pillar to post.
• Lottery doesn’t give the quality of poles and balls that is used.

• Federations and clubs get players from school sport. Players must be moved from school to federations or clubs. The organization suggested that people who are not working must be thrown out.
• R10 participation fee is a rule and if fees are high that means they are just making money and should be addressed or called into order.

• The facility managers do not know their roles and there are no floodlights. The structure is not involved in mass participation.
• Change rooms and toilets are not available for women.
• The structure would like USSASA to come to football at ground level. Sanlam has not renewed its contract with Banyana Banyana.

• The facilities that are rented or for hire are new and still paying mega bucks for them. Some federations are vandalizing those facilities. Fees charged are refundable if nothing is broken.
• Those fees are used to mark fields and maintain the facilities as well. Facility management can only maintain a facility and clean up after finish playing.

• Lesedi councillor Mr. Jonk welcomed the delegation and Chris Wagner from the department briefed the community about the visit. The participants were also present to share their own views and challenges with the delegation. Mr. Jonk informed the delegation that volunteers will be trained in the center and get some stipend and they are planning to engage particularly the youth out of school to play.
• He noted a need to engage the existing programmes on how to utilize and mature the mass participation programme and identify talents.
• The implementation phase is behind due to equipment delaying to reach the destination. There are five basketball teams in the area. Another challenge is delay of transfer of conditional grants to pay volunteer stipends but now its been addressed.

The delegation was impressed about the facility. It was serving the purpose because it was full with participants playing basketball although there is no proper equipment. The community is very proud of the facility and looking after it very well. It was built and opened in 2000 by MEC of Public Works and Transport.

• Is the delegation looking at the community of Ratanda per term or will be coming after 5 years? Can they be provided with a stadium like Ellis Park?
• They requested equipment to play in the center. Mass participation started in April and if it were not for the lack of facilities the programme would have been developed.

• The delay of equipment was resolved immediately when one of the department’s official called the chief director and was told that the equipment would be delivered in two days.
• The community could request and identify a facility as a need and also look at the clubs they have or whether the facility will be serving the purpose of will end up not utilised fully.
• Municipality should have IDP where the facility to be built will be initiated.

Chris Wagner welcomed the delegation and gave a brief background of the area. He noted the following:

• The area is very diverse with a number of hubs.
• A beer hall burnt down some time ago but it was refurbished to be an indoor sport facility. Some RDP houses are to be built to integrate more community into the broader one.
• The area has a high rate of unemployment and mass participation programme is trying to address and reduce the enormous rate of crime and gangsterism.
• There are large sport fields. The area used to be vibrant with hockey leagues but since the unification of sport some teams merged and vibrancy is gone. Hockey has got a campaign on schools.
• An extra turf issue needs to be addressed because of its high cost for hiring amounting from R200 to R2 500 and above. The track is made of grass and during rainy days the usage is zero because of cancellations.

The manager of the region briefed the delegation on the following:

• The area service 84 facilities, tennis courts, stadiums etc with 59 members of staff divided into two, half is based in Westbury.
• The area is also experiencing domestic violence, gangsterism, drugs and nothing has improved so far.
• Upgrading started in the eastern side with paving of the roads and gravelling. The project uses local contractors and local people in order to create jobs. There is grading and levelling of ground to start golf driving.
• There is sport committee prioritising on sport issues. Lack of funds is a big challenge.
• A soccer academy has been started originally from Paris. A delegation has visited Paris in August to finalize an agreement with them and they promised to assist as much as possible because they have all the resources. This academy will serve as a build up for the 2010 preparations. The community likes soccer they even mentioned that Steven Pienaar who is playing for Bafana Bafana comes from the area.
• Paris delegation promised to come and train coaches, assess them and develop soccer in the academy. Some knowledge has been acquired on how to start an academy but the problem is finances. The manager of the region is planning to have coffee shops and saloon to create an atmosphere of family togetherness, boost moral regeneration and to create spirit of Ubuntu. Coaching clinics have started and an area for the academy has been identified as well.
• An ex gangster who got death sentence approached the council and requested to start a chess project. Two outdoor projects are finished in Rival Extension. The area is very poor with gangsters but when the bricks were delivered not a single one was stolen because the members of the community are committed and responsible. The area have three informal settlements with four teams registered and are provided with tracksuits and equipment.

The meeting was at a recreational centre with the elders who took part in recreational games. The hall was packed with youth and middle-aged people doing aerobics to keep them fit and healthy. The elderly people were playing snakes and ladders and other games. The facility is fully utilised daily. The leader of the delegation addressed them after encouraging them to carry on with the good work that they were doing. He gave them opportunity to ask questions and share with the delegation their challenges and experiences.

• The games start at 09h00 with three quarter of the elderly for indigenous games and aerobics. They have different clubs as senior citizens but don’t have equipment but they have applied for equipment through the coordinator.
• They noted that they want to compete with other provinces. They want to compete on aerobics, volleyball and basketball. They also want to exchange programmes for the seniors with other provinces. Transport is a problem when they want to go to Eersterust to play bowling.
• Ward 17 has no ground for the youth and they are training under dangerous conditions presently.
• Mamelodi Care for the Aged has frailed people that need transport to reach for the bowling facility.
• Extension 5 has weightlifting but don’t have enough space. They can get sponsor but the issue of space and equipment is a problem. The only recognized sport code is soccer while other people would like to play tennis but it is not available and everybody ends up playing soccer.

The leader of the delegation promised the community to discuss their challenges with the Chairperson of SALGA, Father Mkhatshwa for assistance.

• It has tennis court, netball court, soccer grounds with steel movable grand stands.
• It is built next to schools and in the center of the residential area.
• It is fully utilised by youth, aged and school kids and well fenced with toilets.

This facility was upgraded as part of the 2003 World Cup Cricket Legacy Project. Lottery gave R500 000 to start and the end product cost R2m. Tshwane Municipality is looking well after it. The facility is built in a coloured area and is accountable to government and the community.

The only problem identified is that it is not user friendly, i.e. physically challenged people are not catered for in the entrance. The facility assists schools for coaching, nutrition programmes and eye testing. 6 kids are staying in the residence and provided with three meals a day. There are 100 kids from Mamelodi on the programme and 7 are coming from the Centre of Excellence. They are trained for batting and coaching but looking at identifying spinners.

The facility was an initiative of the community and national government embraced it to be duplicated around the country. The department of Sport also gave them mobile gyms. The facility caters for multicoded sport.

Kobus van der Walt welcomed the delegation and briefed them on the programmes run by the centre. The centre was strategically planned in 2000 as the high performance centre to position the university to the community around. It was built to play a role as partner to sport that was planned by the former National Sport Council (NSC) together with provincial academies. The university is an infrastructure to support those academies with national federations and school kids and work closely with SRSA and NOCSA. 65 participants contributed to national sport fraternity that represents national colours to focus on long-term athlete development.

The Managing Director of the centre introduced the delegation to Basetsana team and 4 Black swimmers. He informed the delegation that the main focus is to develop champions. The centre is divided into two entities, i.e high performance training and commercial entity. The centre also trains national and international teams in the gym. It has catered for 47 international teams for the preparations of Olympics and for other training camps. Some teams even stay for few months.

He noted that academies are not interested in potential but believe in long term development .e.g systematic development at the right age, go through specific stages, look after life skills, tuition and scientific. The centre needs to benchmark in order to win medals. It also caters for accommodation and look after the athletes’ nutrition. They have their own school i.e. business and school curriculum from Grade 4 to 12. Sport science, medical support and physical conditioning according to their age with 24 hour and 365 days programmes. A number of kids who left with potential because the class have 4 – 15 kids not more. The centre is striving to do better than yesterday and have already achieved a lot.

Mr. Komphela thanked them and told them of the delegation’s pride about the centre and they have seen. The questions were as to what extent are their prepared to move beyond the borders of South Africa, for an example, Zimbabwe, Zambia etc especially the SADC region.

Their response was that they cater for African Countries e.g. Kenya teams and others for boxing, soccer academy have Cameroon and other. Also a meeting of SADC Zone VI will be held in the centre.

The delegation was delighted that sport is beginning to take shape and its starting to build the nation together. He commended the enthusiasm shown by the managers in the HPC and see it as a greater role for the academies. The manager promised to work closely with the Committee and the delegation promised to come back and tour the whole centre.

The next visit was supposed to be in the offices of SAFA in Johannesburg but SAFA was not prepared to meet with the delegation. The Committee concluded its oversight.

The Committee identified the following issues:

• Lack of national policy on school sport.
• Patriotism vs sterling pound - The clubs that have more crowds than the national team. What can be done to address this issue?
• High expectation and demand on sport facilities for the rural areas even if its open grounds.
• Glenmore in Mpumalanga don’t have water or sanitation and not possible to have toilets in the facilities.
• The communities argue that BSRP created jobs and what is MIG going to provide?
• Workshop should be conducted to clarify issues on sport structures in the province. The readiness of the province for 2010 Soccer World Cup. Monitoring and addressing municipalities that are not concentrating to all sport codes but soccer only.
• Clarity on the placement of USSASA. Final negotiations should be discussed with the stakeholders. Fees paid by school affiliated to USSASA and the role of USSASA in relation to former Model C schools that are not participating in competitions or not affiliated to USSASA.
• Accessibility of Lottery Fund and the issues of the two-year audited statement to be looked at seriously.
• Re-introduction or activation of sport councils in some provinces and information on why they were established and what their responsibilities are.
• Inclusion of sport as part of education curriculum.
• Lack of affordable transport for players to attend games or matches within the provinces.
• Mechanism should be devised to track down developed players and be monitored. A database should be available.
• Less involvement of teachers to identify talents at schools during physical education due to abolition of physical education and Wednesday matches.
• Lack of transformation programmes, development programmes and succession plans for building young teams visible should not be debated in the boardrooms and not implemented.
• Not enough developed programmes on mass participation and school sport.
• All municipalities want to have stadium built or renovated in their areas.
• Not enough training for coaches and referees.
• Lack of information sharing amongst federations, stakeholders and NGOs.
• Women sport not active in the provinces.
• Racial tensions between different sport codes.
• Cross border issue
• Challenges with karate, cricket and rugby.
• The existence of racial tension in certain sporting codes and the continuing reluctance of certain former ‘Model C’ schools to become affiliated to USSASA.