Hon Chair, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members and guests, the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation is one of the most underestimated committees in the National Assembly. It commands a lesser budget, it is mostly relegated to the back pages and, of course, like most committees, it has a negative past.
The problem with the Department of Sport and Recreation is that it needs to rely on various portfolios to ensure ultimate success. The buy-in and support of this committee would come from such committees as Health, Education and Social Development.
Currently, municipalities do not need to account to us as to how they spend their money. This is a problem, as the Director-General of Sport and Recreation has a limited reach. Consequently, we need to rely on the likes of the South African Local Government Association, Salga, and the provinces to ensure that the money is spent accordingly and efficiently. It is therefore difficult to approve and spend a budget when you need to rely on other entities to spend it properly.
It is therefore imperative that the director-general and Salga work together more closely to ensure a more effective roll-out between the different spheres within this department. Because the director-general has limited power to penalise local authorities, the DA has staunchly advocated that municipalities that spend their Sport and Recreation allocations appropriately should be rewarded during the next financial year with incentives like scheduling high-profile sports competitions to take place in those areas.
To achieve this, one needs to understand the Sport and Recreation budget. With my limited knowledge of accounting and auditing, I was always certain of one thing: creative names in the budget lead to creative accounting. We have gone to great lengths to introduce these key budgetary areas, which literally sound the same and offer similar recourse. As I said in the committee, you can change the name but, if it tastes, sounds and looks like a chicken, it probably is a chicken. This committee has come a long way in trying to create attractive divisions that almost give us an idea of the visual and literal objectives of this department. However, hon Minister, is that working? The way the budget is labelled is almost how the portfolio has been judged over the last few years - as having lots of glitz and glamour, but not enough foundation.
We need to ask ourselves whether this budget will help us build an active nation and, in turn, a winning nation, and whether there will be enough support for us to do so. The Minister has insisted that quotas on a professional level need to be increased. This is a clear indication that transformation is still not working 20 years down the line.
Our colleagues on the other side seem to be at the ready with band-aids and plasters to fix recurring problems, rather than with textbooks to learn from these mistakes. To fix the premier teams and neglect the schools and clubs is like fixing the engine of a car but neglecting the brakes. There can only be a sad ending, and that is not a good story to tell.
When you hear the amounts of money involved in the SA Rugby Football Association scandal, the boxing association scandals and the Cricket South Africa scandal - to name but a few - we see an extension of off-field politics rather than on-field promotion. This is off-side, and our officials need to be held to account. On a recent trip to East London, I found out that the Border Rugby Football Union currently seems to have more cars in its name than development officers! There are more politically aligned people than administration and sports-minded people trying to rescue this sinking ship.
We are firm believers that sports should have support from our politicians, and not interference. However, this committee is tasked with ensuring that our rands are spent to derive a maximum return.
Minister, a good story to tell would be if it could be ensured through our funding that John - who does not have Facebook and is schooled under a tree, but has talent - gained access to sports facilities; that he flourishes in an enabling, competitive local league; that his talents were recognised and that he was scouted by officials; and given the opportunities for equal participation through the academies of excellence.
Hon Minister, you and I speak the same language. It is not in what we say; it is in what we deliver. Currently we seem to face issues such as shrinking sponsorships, uneven playing fields at grassroots level, a lack of clear accountability from the stakeholders who happily receive our money but who are not always readily available when asked to account, and a culture of underspending.
We are in full support of the vision of Sport and Recreation as it is aligned with the National Development Plan, NDP. We believe that this budget needs to ensure that we create a healthier nation, a more competitive nation and a nation that unites behind its sportsmen and women, not just on the international stage, but also on the local stage, in schools and clubs. Only then will we see true returns on what is a fundamental portfolio in this country. Thank you. [Applause.]