Update by Netball South Africa and the Netball World Cup Board on progress in preparation for the 2023 Netball World Cup; with Ministry

Sport, Arts and Culture

25 November 2022
Chairperson: Ms B Dlulane (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

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In a virtual meeting, the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture received a detailed briefing from Netball South Africa and the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the 2023 Netball World Cup on preparations for the tournament, to be held in Cape Town. The presentation covered the ongoing planning for the tournament and measures being taken to address challenges at board level. The Committee was also briefed on preparations for the Final Draw Event to be held in Buffalo City.

Members sought assurance that governance problems would be addressed. They observed that the marketing of the event was not effective and asked for details on the marketing plan. They asked about the employment of the head coach of the South African national team, ticket prices, the return to the economy and society from the World Cup and financial management.

 

Meeting report

Briefing: Status report on the 2023 Netball World Cup
Ms Priscilla Masisi, Tournament Director, 2023 Netball World Cup Board, began by summarising the milestones achieved and planned in the year leading up to the start of the tournament in July 2023. She discussed the following topics in some detail:

- Marketing objective
- Sponsorship and merchandising
- The tournament mascot
- Accreditation for service providers
- Venue logistics
- Safety and security
- Team accommodation
- Transport
- Ticketing strategy
- Legacy programme
- Stakeholder engagements
- Budget

Ms Patience Shikwambana, Chairperson, 2023 Netball World Cup Board, spoke about some of the challenges the Board was facing. One of the biggest of these was recording minutes and board resolutions. This challenge was being addressed. Netball South Africa (NSA) had raised a concern that the Board did not base its decisions on the interests of netball in the country, while the City of Cape Town had raised an issue around governance and how documents were presented to the Board. In response, the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture had been requested to intervene. Through the Minister’s intervention, a clear way forward was identified, ensuring good governance and a focus on implementing World Cup plans rather than board members protecting their egos. The success of this event was especially important because it would not only bring economic gain but also highlight the importance of women. It would also reflect South Africa’s ability as a host nation for sporting events. To this end, the Board had engaged the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, spoken to Dr Danny Jordaan, and engaged the rugby and cricket boards, which had hosted World Cups.

Briefing: Status report on the 2023 Netball World Cup Final Draw Event
Ms Masisi confirmed that the Final Draw event would take place at East London International Convention Centre in Buffalo City, Eastern Cape on 30 November 2022. It would be broadcast live on television. She outlined the responsibilities of the Netball World Cup Board and the Eastern Cape province, the programme, event logistics, transport, security and accreditation.

See presentation documents for more information

Discussion
The Chairperson said that the presentation had assisted the Committee in understanding where the Board stood in terms of preparation for the World Cup.

Mr T Mhlongo (DA) was dissatisfied that one of the presentations had not been sent to Members before the meeting, and the one that had been sent was incomplete. He noted the intervention of the Minister but observed that there was no implementation plan. He asked for the name of the project manager who had resigned and the reason for their resignation. He asked for more detail on the marketing plan. For example, how much would an individual pay for a stall at a fan park? How many official balls would be distributed? He also asked for the name of the company that was doing the accreditation, and what had been the reason for choosing the Eastern Cape to host the Final Draw Event.   Which facilities would be upgraded, and what would the expected profits from the event be used for?

Ms V Van Dyk (DA) was also dissatisfied with the presentations. She also noted that the financial information she had requested the day before had not been provided. She asked the Minister how the problems at the World Cup Board would be addressed. She asked who was responsible for the appointment of service providers. Were there any clear reports on expenditure and contracts and if not, why not? Did the Board receive monthly financial reports and financial statements? The Committee could not do proper oversight without them. She asked why the negotiation of the commission rate for the commercial agency had collapsed. Could the Committee be provided with proof of the decision taken by the interim steering committee that approved the rate contained in the agreement? She also asked why the head of marketing position was vacant. Had an audit and ethics committee been established and if not, why not? Would the recommendation by the City of Cape Town that an independent legal advisor and company secretary be appointed to assist the Board be considered? She noted that the Netball South Africa website was very minimal and its latest posts dated back to 2019, which was problematic for a country hosting a World Cup. Lastly, she asked why the head coach of the national team had been fired, and how many coaches had been fired since Ms Cecilia Molokwane had become the president of Netball South Africa.  

Ms V Malomane (ANC) said that the marketing of the World Cup had been poor in comparison to the vibe that was created around the soccer World Cup. Was it limited to the host city, Cape Town? She asked whether Netball South Africa believed the ticket prices would accommodate the poorest of the poor. She asked when the meeting with the Department of Tourism, ticketing and travel providers would occur, given that there were only about six months left before the start of the World Cup. She thanked the Minister for his intervention and believed the challenges would be resolved. She asked what the expected return to the economy was from the government’s expenditure on the tournament, and, lastly, how many volunteers would be recruited.

Mr D Joseph (DA) suggested that the profits could possibly be used to address social issues that women were facing. He hoped the Board would work on producing positive media reports in response to what had been said about the resignations of coaches. Would the R90m allocated for the tournament be sufficient, or would more money be required? Had the visiting committee from World Netball picked up any reasons for concern? Who would be responsible for ensuring that disabled people were included and catered for at the tournament? Was there going to be a museum or display as part of the legacy after the World Cup?

Ms R Adams (ANC) drew attention to schools and community clubs from Mukudeni and the surrounding villages that had received sport apparel and equipment as part of the World Cup legacy project. Another secondary school would receive brand new netball courts. While this was all good, it would be useful to have information on hand that could be shared with constituencies. Criteria should be developed to determine which areas and communities need facilities the most. She echoed the sentiments of previous speakers about the lack of public awareness about the Netball World Cup and not having records of meetings. 

The Chairperson noted that the meeting was beneficial as it highlighted a lack of coordination, which was dangerous and problematic because this World Cup was a symbol of women in sport but was not being prioritised, thus further entrenching the discrimination and disregard of women in South Africa. She encouraged the Minister to ensure that all spheres of government worked together to ensure the success of the event.

Responses
Ms Cecilia Molokwane, President, Netball South Africa, could not say much about the head coach because of ongoing legal issues, but confirmed that the coach would still earn her salary this month. She said that the results under this coach had been poor. In 2019, the national team reached the semi-finals and lost to the number-one-ranked team by just two points. At the Commonwealth Games in 2022, South Africa returned as a laughing stock after losing to Uganda, which had never won against South Africa. The coach herself had said she supported any decision taken by Netball South Africa so long as it was in the best interests of the team. It had also been revealed through anonymous letters that the players had been unhappy under the coach’s management. She denied that any coach had been fired under her presidency, nor had any coach resigned. Coaches were appointed under contract and contracts came to an end. She said Netball South Africa would continue to give young coaches opportunities. She said that she had personally requested that World Netball change the venue for its scheduled board meeting from Los Angeles to South Africa in the run-up to the World Cup to satisfy itself that preparations were going as planned. She explained that Netball South Africa had asked districts to identify schools which district teams could use to play their matches. This is how locations for facilities were chosen. It did not make sense to build a court in a place where there were no netball players.

Ms Masisi said that a detailed marketing plan, highlighting the steps that would be taken every day for activation, build-up programs and ensuring the awareness and participation of South Africans in the upcoming World Cup, would be shared with the Committee. A sponsors launch would be held this coming Monday at the Rosebank Hotel, and soon after that, there would be an outreach programme run together with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) to mobilise communities and highlight the activities of the Netball World Cup. In addition, they would be unveiling a school in the Northern Cape where the build-up marketing program would continue towards the launch of ticket sales. The Nelson Mandela remembrance walk at the Union Buildings would also be activated. The previous marketing manager had been dismissed because he had misused company vehicles, was nowhere to be found for a couple of days and the matter had only been resolved through police intervention. She said there would be stores and stalls at the fan park, but vendors would have to undergo the accreditation process. About 200 replica balls would be made. 55% of the R27m would go to World Netball, 25% to South Africa as the host country and the remaining 20% would be shared among the participating countries. The Eastern Cape had been chosen for the Final Draw because it had approached the Board expressing its willingness. An auditing company has been appointed to finalise the financial report which should be available for the Committee before the December holidays. An audit and ethics committee was in the process of being established.  

Ms Sumayya Khan, Deputy Director-General (DDG): Recreation and Sports Development, DSAC, said that the R90m had been split over three years, with R30m having been transferred to Netball South Africa in 2020/21 because the World Cup Board had not yet been established. The first tranche had been allocated to the Western Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Cultural Affairs under a service level agreement. When the World Cup Board and organising committee were established in 2021/22, the R30m had been transferred to it. However, the organising committee had not yet submitted annual financial statements, which is why the third and final R30m tranche had not yet been transferred. The third tranche would be transferred as soon as the financial statements were submitted. She said the legacy programme consisted of multi-purpose sports courts built in all nine provinces. These were not like the normal multi-purpose sports courts, but included one court dedicated to netball. Netball South Africa has identified which schools should benefit from these multi-purpose courts. She listed several schools across the country where courts had been or would be built. Kit and equipment would be provided to ten schools in the vicinity, which would also have guaranteed access to the court. 

Ms Shikwambana said that the commission rate for the commercial agency was decided by World Netball and was not the responsibility of the Board.

Follow-up discussion
Mr Joseph insisted that the Committee was within its rights to raise any issue, even if there were ongoing legal disputes related to it or even if it related to the conduct of the Board. If community members raised issues, this was the best platform to address them. Having said this, he appreciated the explanation of how things had developed in the coaching of the national team. He also asked for an update on the projects being done in the Western Cape, given that Cape Town was the host city.

Mr Lyndon Bouah, Chief Director: Sport and Recreation, Western Cape Provincial Government, replied that 53 courts in the Western Cape had been identified for upgrading or would be constructed. 25 of these had been completed and the remainder would be completed in before the start of the tournament.

Mr Mhlongo asked when the Board would submit the necessary financial statements to allow it to receive the third tranche of R30m. He asked whether the quoted cost of the multi-purpose courts included the minor maintenance they would need. He also noted that an explanation of the resignation of the project manager had not been given.

Ms Khan explained that the required maintenance was limited to things like the courts being swept at least once a week and repainting the lines every five years or so.

Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Mr Nathi Mthethwa, appreciated the contributions of the Committee members. The main problem at the Board was that meetings had not been taking place consistently, as members of the Board had other tasks. The area of marketing and communication would be watched with keen interest. He emphasised that in the end, the main goal was to promote participation in and access to the sport of netball for all girls who were interested.

The meeting was adjourned.

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