Chairperson, Deputy Minister, Ministers and other Deputy Ministers that are around, hon members, the ANC stands up and supports your request for the amendment of the Bill. The Bill before us today is an amendment that seeks to address the issue of drugs in sport.
I would also like to inform Members of Parliament that, regarding the institute that we are talking about today, there are only 30 of these types of institutes in the world, and in Africa there are only two. South Africa and Tunisia are the only two countries in Africa that have these institutes.
This is very special and it is a tribute to South Africans to be among the nations of the world who are in possession of this very important institute that deals with the critical matter of doping in sport, so that we encourage fair play.
This institute has been in existence for more than three decades. What the Bill is seeking to address concerning this institute, is that this institute must begin to say, "for more than three decades, the institute has been a lily-white type of institute". Today, this Bill says that issues of redress, as required by the Bill of Rights, should be what this institute engages in.
All South Africans who have the necessary competency, knowledge and expertise must be part of this institute and must be able to help us to form part of this army that is fighting drugs in sport. Deputy Minister, we therefore request that this amendment and the manner in which we are going to transform this institute should make it one that belongs to all South Africans and not to a certain group of people that are privileged.
Deputy Minister, last year the portfolio committee was invited to KwaZulu- Natal to witness the MTN under-17 soccer tournament - the final tournament. Regarding the participants in that competition, who were called the under- 17 children, I am sad to tell you, Deputy Minister, today that 80% of them were adults. There was an outcry that cheating is rife in the under-17 teams at school level. Therefore that defeats what we are talking about when we say we must encourage fair play and not encourage competition regarding young children who are still at school level.
This institute must begin to look into issues of age, that is cheating, and also look at not being able to encourage fair play for those young children who are under 17 to be able to participate fairly and equitably in that area.
This Bill seeks to amend the principal Act, that is the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Act. Furthermore, the amending Bill focuses on considering, deleting and inserting certain definitions and omissions in the principal Act, and on amplifying crucial sections in order to avoid any possibility of ambiguity and uncertainty.
The amending Bill is being considered at the time in South Africa when drug- free sport is absolutely necessary, in line with acceptable international standards and best practice in respect of fair play.
The Bill makes legislative provision for the appointment of the staff in the institute, in line with the Public Finance Management Act. Formerly, there was no recognition of this Public Finance Management Act but there was what is known as the Exchequer Act. The exchequer is no longer in existence. We therefore agree wholeheartedly that we must change this to the Public Finance Management Act, make it relevant and realign it with all policies of government.
The Bill particularly focuses on putting in place correct methods and procedures of adopting international best practice, in line with the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Wada. The international best standards considered in the Bill and in the amendment were adopted by the foundation board of Wada on 5 March 2003 at Copenhagen in Denmark. Procedures for testing athletes for doping and for enforcing compliance by sports federations are introduced in this Bill.
The amending Bill directly entrusts the Minister with the authority to appoint members of the institute, including the chief executive officer. But, what we have inserted in this original Bill is that the chief executive officer must not have voting powers like any other member of the board. Therefore we have removed the voting powers of the CEO. Only those that are nominated should have voting powers. The chief executive officer must remain an operational officer and be a non-participant in this respect.
Clause 3 of the amending Bill specifies that chairpersons and at least nine members are going to be appointed to the institute by the Minister. They should possess special knowledge and expertise relevant to doping. Therefore only those who have that expertise on doping are going to be the people eligible for being members.
The Minister will invite interested parties through the media, by placing a notice in the Gazette. The Minister will receive recommendations 30 days after the publication of the notice. Sascoc will also make an input into these recommendations, but the final decision will rest with the Minister.
The amendment of section 8 removes the Exchequer Act because it is not in use any more, and we are realigning that with the Public Finance Management Act. The second amendment - section 10 - is a consequential amendment. It brings things into line with the World Anti-Doping Agency code and enhances the principal Act. The amending Bill will create measures to ensure that national sports federations and other sports bodies implement the anti-doping policies and rules, in line with the stipulated Wada code. The institute will operate independently from Sascoc and the sport and recreation department will, from time to time, be required to co-operate, if need be.
We also dealt with section 11 of the Act. This amending Bill also deals with a number of issues. It introduces the concept of establishing and maintaining a register for athletes who test positive and top athletes who shall be subjected to testing during competition and outside competition. Because, at times, these people go and do testing when the player is in the field of play or when he is at home, the Bill thus provides for testing outside and inside the field of play, and they use very sophisticated methods nowadays.
A few days before a game or competition, they use those substances. After two days the substance is no longer in the body but has dissolved in a way that gives more power to that athlete. Therefore, if the anti-doping people have a shadow of doubt, they would visit that person and test him or her. The Bill provides for that.
Minister of Safety and Security, I would like you to take into consideration that the safety and security aspect will have to be looked into, because there are provisions that we have to take care of when this kind of thing happens. Hon Deputy Minister, we have also inserted sections 11A to 11C. These sections concern the register that has to be kept regarding the athletes who violate the rules; and these sections also outline the procedures for informing the sports bodies on how this whole new dispensation is going to be handled. But that will also be in compliance with the provisions of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. Therefore, if any other relevant body, even the police, need this kind of information in terms of that Act, they will be eligible to get it. The Minister must make provision for that.
Finally, section 17 of the Act has been amended. An independent anti-doping board has to be established and shall consist of 9 members who possess what we call "the knowledge and skills which are relevant to doping". But, also, the Minister will have to appoint at least three members who will, on the recommendation of the Minister, constitute the appeal tribunal. The committee deliberated on this extensively.
The requirement in the original Act that any person who is a lawyer, practising lawyer or an advocate who is supposed to be nominated in accordance with this Bill must have seven years of experience, is tantamount to making access too difficult. This requirement should read "when a person is accredited as a practising lawyer or advocate and has at least three years of experience", because the committee felt very strongly that seven years perpetuated the status quo. Seven years makes it difficult for those who must have access in relation to capacity and knowledge to build up this institution and the knowledge that this institution requires. It tends to marginalise those people. Therefore, the committee changed that and said it should be three years.
Finally, Deputy Minister, we have agreed with the institute that an intensive national education programme on anti-doping should commence at schools and amateur-level clubs. It should start with immediate effect, because if we can't start now doping will escalate. We have seen how it has critically ravaged highly placed athletes in this country because they have used these drugs, at times not knowing that they are banned substances. Therefore the ANC supports the Bill.