Sports bodies go begging as bigwigs whoop it up
MILLIONS in taxpayers’ money that could be used to promote and develop South African sport is to be used for a party to be hosted by Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula at Sun City next Sunday.
Dubbed the South African Sports Awards, it will cost R65-million.
The Department of Sport will contribute R21-million and the rest will come from sponsors, one of which has cut back its financial support for individual sporting codes.
It also comes against a background of a financial crisis for the country’s sports federations, which produced six medals at the 2012 London Olympics.
The 72 beleaguered sports bodies — whose athletes include former world 800m champion Caster Semenya and Olympic swimming gold medallists Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh — have been forced to retrench staff and cut back on development programmes.
The funding crisis has also scuppered preparations for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Rowing South Africa, which won a gold medal in London, could afford to send a team to compete in only one international tournament this year.
The National Lotteries Board, which is contributing R8.5-million to Sunday’s event, has reduced funding to cashstrapped sports bodies.
Board spokesman Sershan Naidoo said its contribution had been allocated for the prize money, audiovisual production, transport and accommodation for the award nominees.
The Congress of the People and Agang South Africa said the financial crisis faced by the federations needed to be taken up as a priority, instead of the government splurging millions on entertainment.
The Democratic Alliance has written a letter to auditorgeneral Terence Nombembe requesting that his office clas- sify the “expenditure as wasteful and that Minister Mbalula be disciplined accordingly”.
A report compiled by the DA showed that the awards ceremony’s budget could have been used to provide:
86 multipurpose sports fields at R750 000 each;
3 250 swimming pools at R20 000 each;
11 rugby fields at R5.5million;
13 soccer fields at R5-million each; and
1 625 000 soccer balls at R40 each for schools and development programmes.
The Public Service Accountability Monitor said the department contribution to the awards was alarming because it had indicated in its 2013-14 annual performance plan that it was investigating a proposal to reduce the number of federations it provided with financial aid.
The department’s R97-million subsidy to the federations and recreational bodies has already come under fire for being insufficient.
Swimming South Africa president Jace Naidoo said his federation had been plunged into financial chaos since losing its annual R11.5-million Telkom sponsorship last year.
Its annual R8-million funding by the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund had been reduced to R2-million.
As a result, it has had to halve its staff for the Learn to Swim Programme, which promotes swimming and safety among more than 570 000 pupils in 793 schools.
Rowing South Africa had yet to receive the funding it requested from the board this year. Wimpie du Plessis, the federation’s president, said that despite submitting a full plan of its preparations for the Olympics, no funds had been forthcoming.
Athletics South Africa had debts of more than R10-million in June and has been unable to run its programmes.
The 1 500 guests invited to the awards include Deputy President Kgalema Montlante, North West premier Thandi Modise and talkshow host Noeleen MaholwanaSangqu.
The organisers, Ultimate Sporting Concepts, said the ceremony would be a “worldclass event with an intriguing show” that will include Afropop group Mafikizolo, rapper Khuli Chana, rock artist Karen Zoid and Afro-soul singer Zahara, among others.
Ultimate Sporting Concepts and Sabela Uyabizwa Media were awarded a R17.9-million tender by the department in July to manage the showcase.