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ATC150514: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation on Budget Vote 40: Sport and Recreation South Africa, dated 12 May 2015

Sport, Arts and Culture

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation on Budget Vote 40: Sport and Recreation South Africa, dated 12 May 2015
 

The Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation, having considered Budget Vote 40: Sport and Recreation South Africa, the 2015‑2020 Strategic Plan of the Department of Sport and Recreation South Africa, the 2015-16 Annual Performance Plan, the 2013‑2018 Strategic Plan of the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) and the 2015-16 Annual Performance Plan of Boxing South Africa (BSA), reports as follows:

 

  1. Introduction

 

The 2015-16 financial year has seen the introduction of the 2014-2019 Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) that has been aligned to the National Development Plan. The National Development Plan (NDP) is the macroeconomic policy of the new government and finds its expression in the Medium-Term Strategic Framework. This has required that the Department of Sport and Recreation (SRSA) adapt its plans to the priorities of the MTSF and the NDP, and develop programmes that will allow it to achieve the goals of the MTSF.

 

  1. OVERVIEW OF THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN

2.1.       Sport and Recreation SA (SRSA)

 

The Sport and Recreation SA 2015-16 Annual Performance Plan is presented at a time that the department had just received a clean audit for its performance during the 2014-15 financial year. It is informed by the first MTSF which has been linked with the National Development Plan, and which was adopted in August 2013. The MTSF serves as a 2014-19 government strategic plan and requires that all government departments and entities develop their policies to ensure that they address the strategic outcomes of the 2014-19 MTSF. SRSA has had to align the National Sport and Recreation Plan (NSRP), its policy document to guide the sport development continuum of our country to the 2014-19 MTSF. After adoption of the NSRP in May 2012 the department has had to restructure its programmes in order to align itself to the NSRP, and had been implementing the first phase of the NSRP for the past three years. SRSA has aligned the 2015-20 Strategic Plan to the NSRP.

 

The implementation of the NSRP continues to be done in phases during the 2015-16 financial year. SRSA has estimated the cost of implementing the NSRP to be at R15.2 billion over the 2014-17 MTEF period. However, the current budget of SRSA for the 2015-18 MTEF period is at R3.2 billion, making it difficult for the NSRP to be fully implemented. SRSA has been exploring the possibility of introducing tax levies on ticket sales to sport events to fund implementation of the NSRP, and the National Treasury had advised the department to table this proposal to the Davis Tax Committee (DTC).

 

In the 2015-16 financial year the department was allocated R988 million, a slight increase of R18 million (1.8%) from R970 million allocated in the 2014-15 financial year, indicating that the departmental budget can only fund a small portion of the approved NSRP. The bulk, R628.4 million (64%), is allocated to the Active Nation programme, and R133.2 million (13.4%) is allocated for the Sport Support programme. It is worth noting that the Infrastructure Support programme receives the smallest allocation, R9.7 million (0.98%), an indication that infrastructure development falls outside the mandate of the department in the current dispensation. However, the committee is encouraged by the response of the National Treasury with regard to considering the transfer of the sport infrastructure conditional grant allocation to the control of the department. This would allow for the proper coordination and control of the development of sport facilities through the department.

 

The 2015-16 SRSA Annual Performance Plan continues to recognise and prioritise the role of sport in achieving the broader outcomes of the MTSF. The MTSF sets out the actions that the Government will take and the targets to be achieved. It is structured around 14 priority outcomes which cover the focus identified in the NDP and the Government’s electoral mandate. SRSA contributes to Outcome 14, which is aimed at promoting social cohesion through increased interaction across race and class. 

 

2.2.       Boxing SA

Boxing SA has continued to face challenges which made it difficult to achieve most of its objectives in the 2013-14 financial year. These challenges ranged from the paralysis of the board after resignations of board members and the passing away of a board member. The suspension of the chief executive officer (CEO) also did not make things any easier. After a chief financial officer (CFO) was appointed during the course of the year, there was a slight improvement in ratios for net profit, current assets and return on assets, largely due to an increase in revenue generation and lower expenditure. However, the CFO has also been suspended. A new board was appointed in May 2014.

 

Major challenges for Boxing SA include the lack of broadcasting rights, which would generate regular income, lack of sponsorship as a result of lack of publicity, and inadequate funding, which limits implementation of some BSA programmes. These challenges have led to Boxing SA not being able to fill critical vacant posts, having to deal with regulation of licensees without the necessary capacity to deal with the extended mandate. The organisational structure of Boxing SA is not suitable to support its mandate and drastic steps are required to ensure that the structure is aligned to its mandate. SRSA had intervened because of the leadership instability, and had been assisting Boxing SA with its internal audit functions, and in the absence of a full-time CEO the department had seconded an administrator to manage the entity.

 

2.3.       SAIDS

The introduction of the new World Anti-Doping Code (WADA Code), which was to be implemented in the beginning of 2015, will increase the activities and workload of SAIDS. This will require that SAIDS assess the possibility of building infrastructure to support the new code requirements of processing doping intelligence information.

 

Implementing the WADA code will impact on organisational operations, necessitating a review of job descriptions in order to develop a new organisational structure. Processes are currently under way to employ contract staff on a permanent basis. There has not been any update in the strategic plan about the implementation of the new structure.

 

In the 2013-14 financial year the department allocated an extra R3.6 million to SAIDS to increase its budget to R14 million, up from the R13.1 million it was provided in the 2012-13 financial year. In the 2015-16 financial year SAIDS has a budget of R30 million. This is based on the grant from SRSA and National Lottery. In the 2013-14 financial year SAIDS received an additional R18 million grant from the National Lottery to enable it host the WADA World Conference on Doping in Sport in Johannesburg in November 2013, and the International Conference on Sport Law and Anti-doping for decision-makers in South Africa and Africa.

 

  1. STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SPORT AND RECREATION

 

3.1.       Overview of strategic goals

The Committee has had to look at the link between the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan and 2015-16 Annual Performance Plan (APP) of SRSA, and the 2014-19 MTSF and the NDP, in view of the legislative framework and the mandate of the department. The study included the inputs made by the Auditor General and the subsequent presentation by SRSA to ensure that the department was able to set clearly measurable targets and had allocated enough resources to achieve the targets it had set for itself. The department had set six strategic goals. A detailed analysis of each of these goals is expressed below and provides a picture of how aligned are the programmes of the department to meeting the outcomes of the 2014-19 MTSF.

 

Whilst the Auditor-General had established that there was no link to the MTSF outcomes and the NDP priorities that applied to the department, it should be emphasised that a strong link exists, as we understand that sport is treated as a cross-cutting issue. SRSA had attempted to explain the link within the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan and indicated that there was a detailed technical key performance document which provided the complete performance plan of the department. The 2015-2020 Strategic Plan is focused on the promotion of social cohesion through activities that will build capabilities, remove barriers to participation and redress imbalances of the past. It is important to note that Sport and Recreation contributes to sub-outcome 3 of Outcome 14 of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework.

 

Sub-outcome 3 of the 2014-19 MTSF shows the indicators and targets for SRSA, however, since this a strategic document, it does not include all the technical key performance areas which will ultimately give effect to the performance outcomes.

 

Table 1: Comparative analysis of Objectives in the Strategic Plan and the APP

 

Strategic Objectives

APP strategic outcomes

Increase the access of South African citizens to Sport and Recreation

Citizens' access to sport and recreation activities

Provide mass participation opportunities

 

Advocate transformation in sport and recreation

Sport and recreation sector adequately transformed

Develop talented athletes by providing them with opportunities to excel

 

Support high-performance athletes to achieve success in international sport.

Athletes achieve international success

 

Enabling mechanism to support sport and recreation

 

Sport used as a tool to support SA government and global priorities

 

An efficient and effective organisation

 

It will be important for SRSA to ensure that it clearly indicates the alignment to avoid an audit query. SRSA performs most of the programmes mentioned, they appear as sub-programmes or outcomes of other activities that are being undertaken.

 

Strategic Goal 1: Citizens’ access to sport and recreation activities

SRSA was able to provide 61 694 people with access to sport and recreation in the past three financial years of the implementation of the NSRP. It is worth noting that the 2015-20 Strategic Plan sets some targets on two indicators, namely the number of schools/clubs/hubs provided with equipment and attire to clubs, set at 6 400 schools/clubs/hubs per annum, and the number of citizens provided access to sport and recreation activities. The 2015-16 APP shows the much higher target of 6 520 schools/clubs/hubs per annum.

 

R628.6 million (64%) of the departmental budget has been allocated to the Active Nation programme, therefore it will be important to ensure that there is proper measurement of the outcomes, and clear targets to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the use of funds in order to create value for money.

 

Strategic Goal 2: Sport and recreation sector adequately transformed

The 2014 report of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Transformation in Sport has highlighted that transformation is not only limited to the quota system, but should be applied multi-dimensionally to include: Progress to peak performance, changing demographic profiles, institutional governance, skills and capability development, employment equity and preferential procurement. The transformation scorecard for all federations is based on measuring these dimensions and the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) will assist to monitor and evaluate the federations' performance in this regard.

 

The strategic outcome intends to measure two distinct indicators: The percentage of national federations achieving their transformation targets and the number of national federations that meet their transformation targets. There is no difference in the criteria that will be used to measure the performance of the two indicators.

 

An allocation of R107.6 million in the 2015-16 financial year has been earmarked for Sport Support Service programme for sport and recreation bodies that meet their transformation targets. The EPG will enter into an agreement with the national federations to ensure that they set clear transformation targets by which they will be measured, and funded accordingly.

 

Strategic Goal 3: Athletes achieve international success

International success can be measured through the improvement in world rankings and achievement of medals in international competitions. It is important for the department to indicate clearly set targets and assess the probability of achieving the goals. The 2015-20 Strategic Plan offers no specific target. 

 

Different federations will be participating in different tournaments in the 2015-16 financial year: Swimming SA will take part in the 2015 FINA World Championship in Russia, whilst Athletics SA sent athletes to the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Africa Youth Championships in Mauritius from 23 to 26 April 2015 and intends to send athletes to the 15th IAAF (International Amateur Athletics Federation) World Championship in Beijing in August 2015. There will also be a Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia, in August 2015 and the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. Other multi-coded events in the 2015-16 financial year include the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo in September.

 

Major events that will be taking place during the 2015-20 strategic term include the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the 2018 FIFA Soccer World Cup, the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, and many other sport-specific world championships..

 

The goal statement for this strategic outcome clearly specifies that success is qualified as an improvement in South Africa’s performance at selected multi-code events or improvement in rankings in certain sporting codes. Whilst these indicators may not necessarily be the ideal measurement of success, they are tools to make a judgment with. Participation and performance at previous events should be used as a baseline to measure the performance in upcoming events.

 

The allocation of R41.6 million in the 2015-16 financial year to the athlete support project under the Winning Nation Programme, which will increase to R44.6 million in the 2016-17 financial year, will be utilised in the form of financial and non-financial support to the athletes.

In the 2013-14 financial year 28 athletes were assisted through the Ministerial Bursary programme. The old programme of residential support was ended in December 2013. During the 2012-13 financial year 90 athletes from the old programme were supported, and in the 2014-15 financial year only 58 athletes remained in the athletes support programme. In the medium term the department aims to assist 60 athletes, with a budget allocation of R27.8 million.

 

Strategic Goal 4: Enabling mechanisms to support the delivery of sport and recreation

SRSA has allocated an amount of R5.1 million to roll out multi-purpose sport facilities in the 2015-16 financial year and this will increase to R5.8 million in the 2017-18 financial year. The Sports Trust plays a key role in the Ministerial outreach programme of building facilities in rural areas. In the 2013-14 financial year The Sports Trust received R65 million from the department in that regard.

 

The budget that the SRSA allocates to Sport Councils was increased from 3% to 4% of the Mass Participation and Sport Development conditional grant allocation in order to assist provinces to establish and manage the provincial sport confederations. A monitoring tool is needed to measure the use of these funds and provinces' ultimate allocation to provincial sport confederations. An effort should also be made to avoid delays in transferring funds to provinces.

 

The decision to allocate 20% of the Mass Participation and Sport Development conditional grant to the provinces for club development is important as clubs serve as the basis for active participation in sport. The committee found, during an oversight visit to the Mopani region in Limpopo where SRSA is piloting the model for the club development programme, that it was yielding positive results in ensuring that communities take ownership, and that there were community leagues as a result. This process should be encouraged in all provinces.

 

SRSA has indicated that progress on the audit of facilities was at different stages across all nine provinces. It is important to establish a clear target of completing this process nationally during the 2015-20 strategic plan period. So far only two provinces had indicated that they had completed the facility audit. SRSA had started a process of implementing the Geographic Information System in order to facilitate the facility audit, however, the director-general reported that it had been stopped due to the huge financial burden it would have had on the departmental budget.

 

Another mechanism that seeks to enable the support for the delivery of sport and recreation is the academy system, to which the department has allocated 3.5% of the total grant allocated to provinces to establish and develop provincial and district academies in line with SRSA guidelines.

 

SASCOC will continue to receive financial support in order to enable it to carry its mandate of preparing and delivering the national teams to the multi-coded international sporting competitions. An allocation of R8.8 million has been granted for the 2015-16 financial year and will increase to R9.8 million in the 2017-18 financial year. SASCOC has also been charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the athletes and coaching commissions are fully operational as part of fulfilling the mandate of the NSRP.

 

Strategic Goal 5: Sport and Recreation used as a strategic tool to support government and global priorities

The committee acknowledges the important role that the department plays in implementing its programmes in line with the 2014-19 MTSF, as they relate to the building of social capital and fostering social cohesion. It is therefore important that, whilst the programmes are giving expression to how the goals with be achieved, they may also assist with compliance to the principle of governance as set out in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), Act 1 of 1999, and the audit principle of looking at predetermined outcomes. This important outcome to the department and the country needs to be included in the 2015-20 Strategic Plan to ensure adherence to the established systems of governance and accountability.

 

The Sport for Social Change programme aims to catalyse change in the environment, HIV and AIDS a programmes for sport against crime. In order to achieve this the department needs to monitor any change or progress that take place over time. This programme is strategically linked to the other programmes of the department and is also dependent on the strength of interdepartmental relations to measure its progress. A clear monitoring and evaluation tool, which will measure the impact of sport in this regard, is important, so as to ascertain the contribution of sport to bringing about a meaningful change in society.

 

SRSA has committed to making its contribution to matters of global importance within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), UN Sport for Peace and Development International Working Group (SDP IWG), International Anti-Doping Arrangement (IADA) and WADA. South Africa holds the chairmanship of the board of SDP IWG. South Africa was requested to develop a framework on the role of sport to address gender-based violence. In the 2014-15 financial year the department had promised to cut down on cost of international travel by reducing the number of delegates. 

 

The strategic goal needs to be developed in such a way that it adheres to SMART principles.

 

 

Strategic Goal 6: Efficient and effective organisation

The outcome as it appears in the 2015-16 APP is also not reflected in the 2015-20 Strategic Plan. Since it is an important outcome of the department, it will have to be reflected in the strategic plan and be given effect in the APP. SRSA will attempt to improve its performance in the quality of management practices, as assessed through the management performance assessment tool (MPAT) score of 2/4.

 

The clean audit of the department in the 2013-14 financial year should be commended and efforts should be made to address the matters that were raised by the AG in order to maintain the good performance. A point of departure will be alignment of the 2015-16 APP strategic outcomes to the 2015-20 Strategic Plan outcomes.

 

The department has indicated that it would need more funding to implement the newly established organisational structure on an incremental budget. R124.8 million has been allocated for departmental administration in the 2015-16 financial year, and the amount will increase to R138.1 million in the 2017-18 financial year.

 

  1. KEY PROJECTS

 

SRSA has identified the following key projects for the 2015-16 financial year:

  • School Sport Programme
  • South African Schools National Championships
  • National Indigenous Games
  • Youth Camps U/20
  • UNITE Campaign
  • Sports Awards
  • All Africa Games, Congo Brazzaville

 

  1. BUDGET ANALYSIS

 

Due to the constrained economic outlook, the scope to provide additional funding has been limited by the National Treasury. As a result, departments, public entities and constitutional institutions were asked to reprioritise funds within their existing baselines to fund emerging priorities. Should the fiscal outlook improve, recommendations for additional funding may be considered in future budget processes. There are difficult choices to be made between spending priorities and in deciding on the sequence of programme implementation. As a result of these budgetary constraints, departments are required to efficiently manage the cost pressures related to changes in the inflation rate, exchange rate or any other factors affecting input prices.

 

SRSA can only implement the NSRP partially or in phases until there is enough funding for full implementation. The 2015-20 Strategic Plan focuses strongly on the important role of the department towards nation building and fostering social cohesion. Strong emphasis is placed on the alignment of the 2015-20 Strategic Plan to sub-outcome 3 of Outcome 14 of the 2014-19 MTSF. These objectives are to be pursued in the medium term as SRSA has aligned its Strategic Plan and APP to the 2014-19 MTSF.

 

The department has been allocated R3 billion in the medium term, and of that, R2 billion will be allocated to the Active Nation Programme and R417.3 million to the Sport Support programme. The allocation will fund a small portion of the implementation of the NSRP. The key deliverables for this expenditure will be on ensuring that participation in sport events increase from 9 150 participants in the 2015-16 financial year to 15 000 in the 2017-18 financial year, and that efforts to transform sport are also allocated R107.6 million in the 2015-16 financial year to ensure commitment towards changing the landscape of South African sport to reflect the demographics of the country.

 

  1. 2015-16 SRSA BUDGET ANALYSIS PER PROGRAMME

 

Programme

Audited Expenditure

Adjusted Expenditure

Revised Estimate

Medium Term Expenditure Estimate

R million

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

Administration

100.3

114.6

131.3

124.8

Active Nation

539.5

607.6

615.2

628.6

Winning Nation

292.5

231.4

88.8

92.2

Sport Support

117.5

115.8

125.6

133.2

Infrastructure Support

4.3

9.3

9.4

9.7

Total

1,054.1

1,073.8

970.4

988.5

Table 1: SRSA 2015-16 budget per programme

National Treasury (2015)

 

The department has a total budget of R988.5 million to spend for the 2015-16 financial year. The budget is allocated to five programmes to ensure that it gives practical implementation to the department's plans. The Active Nation programme has been allocated R628.6 million (64%). It is the largest programme of the department, and includes school sports and community sport. It is followed by the Sport Support programme with an allocation of R133.2 million (13.4%), the majority of which will be transfers to national federations, and Administration with an allocation of R124.8 million (12.6%).

 

The main expenditure of the department, R720.7 million (72.9%), is incurred for transfers and subsidies to provinces, departmental entities and federations so that they can implement programmes. Another major share of the department's expenditure is for current payments; R265.7 million (26.8%), comprising goods and services and compensation of employees.

 

6.1.           Programme 1: Administration

The allocation of R124.8 million for Administration for the 2015-16 financial year is an increase from the R116.7 million in the 2014-15 financial year. Corporate services receives a large portion of the budget, R40 million (32%), however, this has decreased from R44 million in the 2015-16 financial year. There is a major increase of 29.7% for office accommodation, from R11.7 million in the 2014-15 financial year to R20.1 million in the 2015-16 financial year. The department is still using the offices which they had indicated were not suitable because they offered inadequate parking space, were not properly located and posed a security risk to staff. There is a need to speedily resolve negotiations with the Department of Public Works to find alternative accommodation.

 

SRSA has to ensure that it is able to respond to the concerns raised by the Auditor General of filling the vacant posts and completing the policies and procedures that are necessary for maintaining good governance. All vacant posts should be filled and the lengthy recruitment process be addressed as a matter of urgency. IT governance plan is long overdue and should be completed. Whilst the department has extended its audit services to Boxing SA, it should be noted that this is an addition to the functions and should not compromise the operations of the department.  

 

6.2.           Programme 2: Active Nation

In the 2015-16 financial year the programme’s budget increased marginally to R628.6 million, compared to R620.1 million allocated in the 2014-15 financial year. Provincial support and coordination is allocated about R537.3 million (85.4%) in the 2015-16 financial year, up from R525.6 in the 2014-15 financial year. It is important that provinces' adherence to Treasury provisions is monitored to avoid audit queries, and that SRSA ensure that all provinces adhere to the stipulated regulations. Attention should be given to avoiding over-expenditure by provinces.

 

The programme has five sub-programmes: Active Nation, Active Recreation, Community Sport, School Sport and Provincial Support and Coordination. All major events of the department are in this programme. The department has indicated that the current organisational structure does not meet the expanding responsibilities placed on the programme following the approval of the NSRP. As a result staff will be migrated to match and place them to positions that will best support the expanded obligations.

 

One notable change in the budget under this programme is the decrease of the expenditure for goods and services, from R52.8 million in the 2014-15 financial year to R38.2 million in the 2015-16 financial year. Whilst the compensation of employees has sharply increased from R6.6 million to R16.4 million, Lovelife will continue to receive an allocation of R36.6 million in the 2015-16 financial year, up from R35.5 million in 2014-15.

 

6.3.       Programme 3: Winning Nation

The purpose of this programme is to support the development of elite athletes. One of the crucial objectives of this programme is to contribute to nation-building by financially supporting the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) in preparing and delivering South African teams for participation in selected international multi-sport code events on an ongoing basis.

 

In the 2015-16 financial year the programme has been allocated R92.2 million, up from R78.1 million in 2014-15 because of the increased allocation for the Scientific Support sub-programme from R44 million in the 2014-15 financial year to R61.4 million in the 2015-16 financial year. The Scientific Support budget increased as a result of the extended mandate of SAIDS to comply with the new WADA code. SRSA has set itself approximately seven targets to achieve in the current financial year.

 

6.4.       Programme 4: Sport Support

The objective of this programme is to contribute towards uniting the country by supporting 60 national sports federations and other nongovernmental organisations that offer sport and recreation opportunities to all South Africans. To achieve this objective, the department has set seven targets to be achieved in the 2015-16 financial year. There are three sub-programmes that support the Sport Support programme: Sport Support, International Relations and Sport and Recreation Service Providers.

 

The programme has an allocation of R133.2 million for the 2015-16 financial year, down from R145.1 million allocated in the 2014-15 financial year. Sport and recreation service providers sub-programme receives the lion's share of the budget, with R126.1 million (94.6%) towards the funding of federations. Boxing SA has received an increase from R7.9 million allocated in the 2014-15 financial year to R10.5 million in the 2015-16 financial year. This allocation would require a strict process of monitoring, especially with regard to compliance and adherence to predetermined objectives. SRSA will have to ensure that there are punitive measures in place and that the federations sign the agreement to comply.

 

SRSA has set to assist 60 national federations with financial and non-financial support, however, it expects to only have 20 federations pledging support for the Code of Conduct. The introduction of the Code of Conduct was to ensure that federations would improve their governance, and only federations that comply will receive financial support. As a result all federations are expected to honour the Code of Conduct, and SRSA has an obligation to ensure compliance.

 

6.5.           Programme 5: Infrastructure Support

For the 2015-16 financial year the programme is allocated R9.7 million, up from R9.4 million that was appropriated in the 2014-15 financial year. The budget was adjusted to R10.4 million during the 2014-15 medium term budget. The programme has three sub-programmes. The objective of this programme is to improve levels of participation in sport and recreation by facilitating the provision of adequate and well-maintained facilities. The department lobbies municipalities for the development of sport and recreation facilities.

 

One of the major activities that the department has been engaging in is the discussion to have the 15% that has been ring-fenced from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) transferred to the department. Whilst SRSA has indicated that the grant would not be administered by the department in the 2015-16 financial year, there was a need to properly plan to ensure proper administration of the grant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. ENTITIES BUDGET ANALYSIS

 

Table 2: Budget of entities of department.

Programme

Audited Expenditure

Medium Term Expenditure Estimate

R million

 

2013-14

m

2014-15

m

2015-16

m

2016-17

m

2017-18

m

Boxing SA

R6.5

R7.9

R10.4

R11.0

R11.5

SAIDS

R14.0

R18.5

R19.8

R21.9

R23.0

 

 

7.1.       Boxing SA

R10.4 million has been allocated to Boxing SA for the 2015-16 financial year, compared to R7.9 million for the 2014-15 financial year. The allocation for goods and services has been increased substantially, from R3.7 million in the 2014-15 financial year to R6 million in 2015-16 to allow Boxing SA to implement some of its annual operational plans. The entity has been allocated R21.6 million in the medium term period for compensation of employees. During the 2015-16 financial year, compensation of employees will constitute 65% (R6.5 million) of total expenditure.

 

The functions of Boxing SA are clearly explained in the 2015-16 APP and are divided into core and strategic functions. To carry out these functions, Boxing SA, having considered its resources capacity, ought to carry them through programming and proper prioritising. The present structure does not give an indication of how, for instance, marketing functions are carried out. Regulating functions are very important in the business of Boxing, since there are broadcasting, bouts and licensee contracts to manage which require an organisational structure that is well suited to managing such tasks and avoid possible litigation that may arise in case of any dispute.

 

7.2.           South African Institute for Drug-free Sport (SAIDS)

In 2013-14 the Auditor-General provided an unqualified audit opinion with regard to the South African Institute for Drug-free sport financial statements, indicating consistently good financial performance. SAIDS's budget allocation increased slightly from R13.2 million in the 2012-13 financial year to R14.7 million in the 2013-14 financial year and R14.8 million in the 2014-15 financial year. The National Lottery allocated SAIDS R18 million in the 2013-14 financial year. Additional funding of R3.6 million was secured for SAIDS in 2014-15, R4.2 million in 2015-16 and R5.5 million in 2016-17, to ensure that SAIDS is able to comply with the World Anti-Doping Code (WADA Code).

 

The budget allocated for SAIDS in the 2015-16 financial year is R19.8 million, with an additional R10 million from the National Lottery. This amount has been allocated in such a way that 41% (R12.3 million) will be utilised for doping control and 32% (R9.7 million) for administration. SAIDS has had to ensure that the staff who had been employed on contract is employed on a full-time basis, which has increased the total expenditure.

 

Education is an important role of SAIDS and during the 2014-15 financial year 16 education officers were appointed in 7 provinces, excluding provinces such as Mpumalanga and North West. This expansion of the staff complement will have an impact on the entity’s outreach programmes, and there is a need for SAIDS to review its current model on education and outreach, so that it can be effective and efficient.

 

SAIDS intends to conduct 3000 tests and implement 7 anti-doping outreach projects in the 2015-16 financial year. During this same period they will also deliver 8 anti-doping workshops/seminars to provincial sports federations/sports academies. These actions are all meant to ensure greater awareness across the sector about the need to ensure doping-free sport and educate athletes about fair competition.

 

 

  1. Committee’s observations:

8.1.           SRSA

  1. Provinces are unable to spend allocated funds;
  2. Community sport and club development is an urgent requirement;
  3. Non-delivery by local government with regard to building facilities with the MIG that had been allocated for the purpose of building sport and recreation facilities;
  4. Accountability is not enforced for non-delivery of facilities for which money that had been put aside for municipalities and paid to entities or persons;
  5. The 29.7% increase to the department's budget allocation for accommodation is of concern, since the department had expressed dissatisfaction with accommodation space and area, and has not made reference to how it would manage accommodating Boxing SA in its office space.
  6. The misalignment between strategic objectives and outcomes in the department's annual performance plan could result in an audit query;
  7. It seems unlikely that the Provincial Sport Academies Bill, Fitness Industry Bill, South African Combat Sport Bill will be completed within the time frames envisaged by the department;
  8. The backlog in delivering facilities appeared to influence learner numbers in schools as a result of parents choosing to enrol their children at schools that offered access to facilities if they could afford to do so;
  9. The committee is concerned about potentially weak support for the 16 national federations that are not included in the department's objective of supporting 60 of the 76 national sports federations financially in the 2015-16 financial year. It is not clear how the department intends to assist these other federations.
  10. Government entities' noncompliance with invoicing time lines in terms of the Public Finance Management Act is concerning, since it impacts on the department's performance and evaluation. Invoicing for office accommodation is an example.
  11. In the interest of enhanced accountability, the committee agrees that there is an urgent need to attach clear outcomes to funding of federations, for instance, outcomes linked to the empowerment of women, rural development and enlarging the percentage of female administrators.
  12. SRSA priority to implement the NSRP should be done in phases as suggested by the National Treasury.

 

8.2.           Entities

  1. SAIDS should uphold their independence and avoid being perceived to be biased towards certain federations;
  2. In its operations SAIDS does not endorse any supplementary products and they have a partnership with Virgin Active which assists in ensuring that anti-doping campaigns are promoted within the fitness industry;
  3. There is no established supply chain management unit in SAIDS, however, it uses Trade World Company to process all their procured goods;
  4. SAIDS was moving towards employing a full-time financial manager in order to improve its good corporate governance;
  5. Boxing SA is currently housed within the departmental building in order to reduce its rental expense whilst it is in the process of finding more reasonably priced offices to rent;
  6. The administrative support that Boxing SA receives from SRSA should not compromise its independence;
  7. The three most senior managers of Boxing SA, namely the chief executive officer, the chief financial officer and the director of operations, have been suspended;
  8. The current structure of Boxing SA is not clearly set to ensure that Boxing SA is able to fulfil its mandate and implement its programmes.

 

  1. RECOMMENDATIONS

The Committee recommends that the Minister for Sport and Recreation emphasise the need to:  

  1. ensure that the provinces have the capacity to spend allocated funds so as to avoid that it is returned to National Treasury;
  2. develop the framework of how provinces use the DORA funds in line with the priorities of the NSRP as approved by the National Treasury;
  3. improve alignment between the department's 2015-2020 Strategic Plan and 2015-16 annual performance plan;
  4. strengthen monitoring systems of the use of DORA funds by the provinces;
  5. ensure that the process of preparing draft legislation is expedited during the 2015-16 financial year;
  6. enforce the compliance of federations towards transformation and the signing of the transformation scorecard;
  7. institute punitive measures for federations' non-compliance on transformation;
  8. consider rewarding federations that have achieved and are exceeding the set targets for transformation;
  9. ensure that the facility count process is completed during the 2015-16 MTEF so that the national facility plan can be implemented;
  10. ensure that Boxing SA is properly managed to fulfil its mandate;
  11. ensure that all vacant posts are filled in SRSA, and that the recruitment process is fast-tracked to ensure improved service delivery.

 

The Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation recommends that the House approve Budget Vote 40: Sport and Recreation South Africa.

Report to be considered.

 

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