Department of Sports and Recreation 2019/2020 Annual Performance Plan

Meeting report

Department of Sports and Recreation 2019/20 Annual Performance Plan

Mr Alec Moemi, Director-General (DG): Department of Sports and Recreation (DSR) said the Department had updated its strategic plan, which was divided into five parts. Part One would be focusing on implementation in the 2019/20 financial year.

The National Development Plan (NDP) sets out five long-term nation building imperatives for South Africa.  These were:

•           Fostering constitutional values;

•           Equal opportunities, inclusion and redress;

•           Promoting social cohesion across society;

•           Active citizenry and leadership;

•           Fostering a social compact.

Mr Moemi said the DSR’s future goals were to:

• Encourage corporate investments in grassroots sports.;
• Encourage communities to organise sporting events, leagues and championships;
• Provide adequate facilities and ensure that they were maintained;
• Adequately resource school sport;
• Ensure that the demographics of each sporting code approximated the demographics of the country; and
• Promote the sharing of public spaces and common experiences.

In terms of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), key impacts were expected from the interventions of the nation building and social cohesion sector during the 2014-2019 period. 66% of South Africans were proud of their national sporting teams.

He said that to promote social cohesion across society through increased interaction across race and class, it was important to promote participation in sport and recreation, advocate transformation in sport and recreation, develop talented athletes by providing them with opportunities to excel, and to support high performance athletes to achieve success in international sport.

Promoting participation in sport and recreation included the number of people actively participating in organised sport and active recreation events, those actively participating in sport and recreation promotion campaigns and events, the number of sport and recreation promotional campaigns and events implemented, and the number of schools, hubs and clubs provided with equipment and/or attire as per the established norms and standards.

Transformation in sport and recreation required sport and recreation bodies to receive financial and non-financial support in an effort to assist them in meeting their transformation targets, and developing

talented athletes by providing them with opportunities to excel.  This would be measured by the number of athletes supported by the sports academies, and the number of participants in national school sport championships per year. High performance athletes would be assisted to achieve success in international sport through the scientific support programme.

Mr Moemi referred to the White Paper on SRSA, and said minor technical adjustments had been made to the 2015-2020 strategic plan. These did not change the intent of the plan, but rather improved the indicators and targets. The comments of the Auditor-General (AG) on the 2018/19 APP which warranted adjustments, had also been considered. As no policy shifts had been made, it was not necessary to re-table the 2015-2020 strategic plan. It remained valid for the period.

Mr Moemi said the DSR’s strategic influences include:

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO);
• World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA);
• African Union Sports Council:  Sport Development Region Five Agenda 2063;
• National Development Plan (NDP);
• Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF);
• White Paper on the Department of Sport and Recreation (SRSA);
• National Sport and Recreation Plan

Mr Moemi said that their strategic goals were as follows:

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

The aim was to secure an increase of 10% in sport and recreation participation of citizens in selected activities by 2020. Among the objectives were implementation of active recreation programmes, sports participation opportunities provided to communities, support to school sport programmes and provincial sports development programmes, optimised access to sport and recreation facilities, and the provision of technical and management support.

Strategic Goal 2: Sport and recreation sector adequately transformed.

The aim was to foster transformation within the sport and recreation sector so that selected national federations achieved their transformation commitments by 2020. The objectives were the same as those for Strategic Goal 1.

Strategic Goal 3: Athletes achieve international success

Mr Moemi said athletes and teams achieved success at international events as a result of being supported by high-performance interventions.  Success was qualified as showing an improvement in South Africa’s performance at selected multi-coded events; or an improvement and/or maintenance of world rankings in selected sports codes by 2020. To achieve this, there would be support services coordinated for athletes, major events supported, sports tourism to South Africa promoted, and achievements in the sport and recreation sector acknowledged. 

Strategic Goal 4: Enabling mechanisms to support sport and recreation

This would involve an integrated system of enablers to established and fully operational by 2020, including facilities; sports confederations; an academy system; a sports house; a sports information centre; beneficial international relations and supportive sports broadcasting and sponsorships. The strategic objectives were to support provincial sports development programmes and sport and recreation bodies good governance, strategic bilateral relations managed and strengthened; participation in strategic multilateral relations managed; access to sport and recreation facilities optimized; and technical and management support provided.

Strategic Goal 5: Sport used as a tool to support SA Government and global priorities

The DSR was aiming for a 5% increase by 2020 in the perception of sport being recognised by the South African population as contributing to nation building, and for sport being used as a tool to contribute to a minimum of four global priorities by 2020. This would require strategic leadership, management and support services provided. The Department would also back the government’s responsibility towards anti-doping.

Strategic Goal 6: An efficient and effective organisation

Internal processes had to be implemented to ensure that SRSA annually receives an unqualified audit report and an Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) rating of 4 within five years. This would mean the provision of strategic leadership, management and support services.

Mr Moemi said their budget allocations for the 2019/20 year were:

• Programme 1: Administration -- R145.7 million;
• Programme 2: Active Nation -- R744.1 million;
• Programme 3: Winning Nation -- R83.7 million;
• Programme 4: Sport Support --R164.9 million; and
• Programme 5: Sport Infrastructure Support -- R15.2 million.

Mr Moemi concluded by referring to the Department’s public entities, saying that the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport promoted participation in sport without the use of prohibited performance-enhancing substances and methods, and educated sports people on fair play and the harmful effects of doping. Boxing South Africa administered professional boxing and recognised amateur boxing, created synergy between the two, and promoted interaction between associations of boxers, managers, promoters, and trainers.

Discussion

Mr B Mamabolo (ANC) asked for clarity about the indigenous games, which was one of his favorite programmes, because the DG had not been very clear as to whether they were still going on annually. He agreed with the Minister on the issue of patriotism, because Bafana Bafana did not show any sense of patriotism when they played. He criticised the coach for keeping the best players on the bench, and said he should not introduce international football on to African soil because it was not possible. Local football was the way to go, and the coach had to select players from the big three local clubs -- Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. He said Banyana Banyana had played well in their first Women’s Soccer World Cup, but the cricket team had disappointed the country with their dismal performance at the Cricket World Cup. He was hopeful that the Sspringboks would not disappoint the country at the World Cup in September, because they played with passion and dedication.

Mr T Mhlongo (DA) said that the Department tended to use too much money on consultants. This was a concern, and something needed to be done about it. He had noticed that the information technology (IT) department had improved, but it should be monitored because it was still a concern. He commended the Department for its clean audit. However, their oversight monitoring of the quarterly reports did not match the outcomes later on, which was something that needed to be addressed. He asked why he never sees the Department’s buses in Gauteng, because the focus should be on school sports. Was there value for money from the national awards, because Gauteng alone spent R10 million on them? He suggested the Department should venture into sports that were not recognised and were played in communities, such as the sport of spinning cars. He asked how much had been spent on netball by the Department to date.

Ms V van Dyk (DA) asked what the Department was doing to support the development of young athletes who were involved in sporting activities in the disadvantaged communities of the Northern Cape. What had been done for Namaqualand specifically?

Ms V Malomane (ANC) also voiced her disappointment with Bafana Bafana. She insisted that the soccer indaba be held soon so that it could assist the country to address the challenges that were there. The issue of the indigenous games was very important, and the Department departments needed to support those athletes living in the deep rural areas by creating sport facilities so that young athletes could be discovered. 

Ms R Adams (ANC) referred to the Department’s intention to “develop talented athletes by providing them with opportunities to excel”, and asked how it would assist the student athletes who were part of the South African team that would take part in the games in Italy, because some of them had to pay their coaches when they came back from the games, and would be left with nothing.

Mr M Seabi (ANC) asked how the Department had determined that 66% of South Africans were proud of their national sporting teams. What challenges did the department encounter with regard to transformation generally in all sporting codes? With regard to Bafana Bafana, they needed to deal with the issue of transformation because some of the players thought they were entitled to be there. He wanted to know how the Department had come to select Polokwane to develop or establish a softball stadium, because Polokwane was not strong on softball.

Mr S Madlingozi (EFF) said he was concerned that women’s football did not have a professional league, which was something the Department needed to look into. The patriotism of Bafana Bafana was also a concern. He suggested it might be an issue of not being paid enough or something else, because the way they played suggested that something was wrong. The Department had to step in, although the soccer bodies might push it away. He said it was now high time that South Africa introduced some of its indigenous games to the world -- games like Mlabalaba, stick fighting, and so on.

The Chairperson concurred with Mr Madlingozi that some of them had grown up playing stick fighting and playing double-dutch. Therefore, the new department -- which was Sport, Arts and Culture -- needed to coordinate all its resources so that young athletes in rural areas could be assisted in terms of sport facilities in order for them to develop their full potential.

Department’s response

Minister Mthethwa said one tool at their disposal as public representatives was the capacity to legislate, as well as stick to the budget, which was the most important thing for them. Whatever they were saying, they had to keep that factor at the back of their minds in everything they did.

He said they should thoroughly prepare for the Soccer Indaba, and it must not just be a talk shop. For quite some time, there had been expectations from the entire society as to when they would win their next soccer tournament. Therefore, their focus must shift to winning the next tournament. They should look beyond the next Olympics, which were coming next year. They should get to the bottom of the reasons for this poor performance, including the issue of payments. For example, the Liberian team at some point was like Bafana Bafana -- players did not even have enough money to buy boots. It took George Wear to buy them boots. However, when they get on to the field they played with passion and patriotism, unlike Bafana Bafana. That was why they would need the owners of the clubs at the Soccer Indaba, because these owners themselves spend lot of money buying players outside of South Africa for the professional league.

The issue of facilities had been well canvassed, because when they look at this R200 million for nine provinces, with 44 districts and eight metros, as they do their work they should take it back to the local level. However, in some of the municipalities there was just wastage, so they should balance that money in a way that would see a proliferation of sporting communities. If they were doing something right, people would buy in and make it grow.   

Minister Mthethwa said the issue of transformation was critical, because the Eminent Persons Group had told them to look more broadly than just quotas. How should the Department respond to the question that had been asked about school sport? They had to find a way of extending this programme not just to the primary school level, but also to the early childhood development (ECD) centres. The buses should inspire these children to have a future. Therefore, they had to make sure that each cent of the money that was transferred to the provinces for school sport was accounted for, so that the children involved in sport did not suffer unnecessarily because their money had been channeled elsewhere.

The Minister said this had been the first time Banyana Banyana had played in this Women’s World Cup, while Spain had been running its women’s football league since 1988, and China since 1997. Now here was Banyana Banyana -- individual women players, not coming from a formal structure like a league --doing wonders and even qualifying for the World Cup and doing well. This meant that they were going to launch a women’s football league very soon, in August. If they looked at netball, the South African team were number one on the continent, and ranked number five internationally, which indicated that they had a huge potential which just needed to be nurtured with passion and focus so that things could move forward. Therefore, it was very critical and important that they launch the women’s football league in August.

Although the awards they may seem to be wasteful expenditure, the Minister said that as a sports person, it encourages one if they are seen and recognised whilst they are still alive. They give a lot of encouragement to athletes when they are rewarded for their performances. Therefore, both alive and past athletes and artists must be recognised and received awards, because the principle of doing that was correct.

The indigenous games was one of areas the Department wanted to see going forward and ensure they happened.

On the matter of the SA Football Association (SAFA) versus the Premier Soccer League (PSL) Minister Mthethwa said it was true it was supposed to be the other way around. Last week, he had seen the Chairman of the PSL and an ABSA bank representative talking about huge sums of money, which meant that they as Government needed to come closer to the situation. It indicated that the PSL was more appealing to the corporate sector than SAFA was.They should therefore find a way of engaging with both SAFA and the PSL so as to shape how they move dto the Soccer Indaba itself and accept the views and suggestions from members, because they had to make it to succeed.

Mr Moemi said that cricket was well run in South Africa. It was making profits and the pipeline was quite healthy, and on the transformation scorecard it was not doing badly. However, they had a pool of talent, and in its individual capacity the team matches the best players at the international level. However, the country’s cricket had changed quite significantly from where it was strong in batting, to where it was now, which was quite strong in bowling. This had created a huge challenge in terms of strategy and how they responded to fielding on a given day. The challenge of the cricket team was “choking,” because when they were at their peak, they choked.

Mr Moemi said the Department was one of the few that did not use consultants. On the IT question their outcomes had improved quite significantly and they envisaged they would not have repeat findings on IT because they had addressed most of the key issues that the AG had raised last time.

He referred to the challenge of planning in terms of the template of the National Treasury, which required dividing the money into four parts. This meant they had to report on the norms with 25% at the end of the first quarter, 50% in the second quarter, 75% in the third quarter, and 100% in the fourth quarter. However, they could not live by those norms. They could, for the sake of compliance, divide their budget that way, but in essence sport was not played a lot in winter, and was played a lot in summer, particularly recreational activities they took place when it was warmer and when people go to parks. Therefore, the third quarter was their busiest time, and although the Committee might get concerned as to whether the Department would spend all the money, as a Department they knew they had planned for their programmes. It had always worked like that. It was not how they start, but how they finished that matters. If they said they were going to achieve the targets they would achieve them. Last year they had spent 99.9% of their budget and achieved 94.8% of their targets, and this had been a consistent trend for a number of years. They were confident in what they were doing, and were guaranteed of a clean audit because they had been getting a clean audit for a number of years. If the National Treasury template had to change to allow them flexibility, they would do it their own way.  

Mr Moemi referred to the issue of buses not being seen in Gauteng where Mr Mhlongo resides, and said it was only two provinces -- the Western Cape and Mpumalanga -- that the programme had been rolled out and buses could be seen moving around. But come the Soccer Indaba, Committee Members would see the buses, and more of them would be seen when this programme was rolled out in the other provinces.

The running costs of the buses were not much because any member of the staff could drive them. They were serviced when they were due for service, and the maintenance was not that heavy.

The meeting was adjourned.