No Prince Charming to give SA kiss of life
THE auditor’s cautionary note in the Swimming SA (SSA) financial statements highlights the precarious status of South Africa’s most glamorous Cinderella sports.
“Should the grants and sponsorships be withdrawn, it is highly unlikely that the association will be able to continue as a going concern,” it warns, referring to the association’s heavy reliance upon lottery and government handouts.
The frightening thing is that of the three codes with the potential to win two or more medals at next year’s Rio Olympic Games, swimming is better off than athletics and rowing — based on their latest available annual reports.
Athletics SA (ASA), which has to pay off R10.4-million in damages to injured pole vaulter Jan Blignaut, earned R12-million for 2013, its lowest income in years. In 2012, it banked more than R24-million, but even that was well down on the 2007 turnover of R40-million.
SSA earned R17-million in 2013, with nearly R9-million coming from grants, while Rowing SA (RowSA), with only one full-time employee on its books, recorded income of R3.4million, with most of that coming from the lottery and government.
Rowing does enjoy funding from other sources that is not reflected in its financials, such as the Operation Excellence funding that goes directly from the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) to the national squad, as well as its own Powerhouse Trust.
“The target is to raise about R3-million a year,” RowSA president Sean Kerr said. “That’s donations from corporates, and it’s based on personal relationships.”
But the three federations — SSA, ASA and RowSA— and even Sascoc lack big sustained sponsorships.
A leading sports marketer believes there is no Prince Charming waiting to sweep these Cinderellas off their feet.
“The tin-cup charity approach doesn’t work,” Repucom Africa executive chairman Kelvin Watt said.
“They have to provide compelling television content to attract sponsors. The fact is that, at a massparticipation level, many of these sports have probably never been stronger in this country.”
Both SSA and ASA started special televised events this year that they hope will become valuable properties. Watt pointed out that Cricket SA had employed former Proteas skipper and top-order batsman Graeme Smith to recruit international players for the upcoming Ram Slam competition, saying these federations should consider something similar.
Perhaps ASA could organise meets where the feature race is a 4x200m relay — given South Africa’s sudden blossoming of sprinting talent like Anaso Jobodwana and Wayde van Niekerk — against US and Jamaican teams?
Maybe SSA could arrange some galas where Olympic medallists Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh go head-to-head against top international rivals. “We have to start thinking out the box,” admitted SSA president Jace Naidoo. “We are not likely to get increased funding from government or lottery in the near future.”
The latest budget unveiled by Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula is R988.5-million, of which R92.2-million has been allocated to support elite athletes.
Sevens rugby, another Olympic medal hope for South Africa, is in a healthier state. The R6.64-million earned for hosting the local leg of the 2014 World Sevens Series was less than 1% of the R819-million the SA Rugby Union banked last year.
The tin-cup charity approach doesn’t work. They have to have compelling television content