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Cape Town – Sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile urged private industry to do more to support South African sport. At the same time he complained bitterly about his inability to squeeze enough cash for sport out of the national lottery.
Stofile told MPs as he was opening the debate on his department's budget in the National Council of Provinces on Thursday that progress in the development of our sport is largely dependent on local and international partners.
"The fiscus is simply overwhelmed by socio-economic needs of SA to make sport a priority," he said.
"Synergies with departments like Health, Basic Education and Social Development help us reach out beyond what our budget allows."
And he praised companies like SuperSport, Vodacom, Nike, Yellow Pages, Absa, FNB, and Coca Cola as "the pillars that sustain our work".
"UK Sport, the EU and the UN are also valuable partners," he said. "They fully understand the importance of sport in creating better citizens and nations."
On the lottery money, he told MPs that Section 25 of the National Lotteries Act must be amended.
"We are meeting a brick wall in being able to influence the distribution of lottery funds and how they contribute to the national agenda of reconstruction and development," he said.
"It is encouraging that the new Minister of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Chairperson of National Lotteries Board seem to share our vision. We must all support them as they try to bring the National Lotteries Act on the right track."
The minister also complained that his fight to access the sport and recreation portion of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) seems far from over.
"The stark reality presented by the delivery records of our Building for Sport and Recreation Programme (BSRP) in comparison to those of the consolidated MIG, is disgraceful," he said.
"Since the inception of the MIG in 2005 until the end of March 2010 (five financial years) a total of 155 sport and recreation facilities projects have been completed compared to 364 projects implemented over four financial years through the BSRP.
"This, in essence, means that the MIG projects over five financial years represent only 43% of the BSRP projects over four financial years. We are not willing to give up this fight, even if it creates a lot of enemies for us. We are by all means, willing to listen to compelling arguments that can help us build the much needed facilities to improve access to sport and recreation."
- I-Net Bridge
Stofile told MPs as he was opening the debate on his department's budget in the National Council of Provinces on Thursday that progress in the development of our sport is largely dependent on local and international partners.
"The fiscus is simply overwhelmed by socio-economic needs of SA to make sport a priority," he said.
"Synergies with departments like Health, Basic Education and Social Development help us reach out beyond what our budget allows."
And he praised companies like SuperSport, Vodacom, Nike, Yellow Pages, Absa, FNB, and Coca Cola as "the pillars that sustain our work".
"UK Sport, the EU and the UN are also valuable partners," he said. "They fully understand the importance of sport in creating better citizens and nations."
On the lottery money, he told MPs that Section 25 of the National Lotteries Act must be amended.
"We are meeting a brick wall in being able to influence the distribution of lottery funds and how they contribute to the national agenda of reconstruction and development," he said.
"It is encouraging that the new Minister of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Chairperson of National Lotteries Board seem to share our vision. We must all support them as they try to bring the National Lotteries Act on the right track."
The minister also complained that his fight to access the sport and recreation portion of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) seems far from over.
"The stark reality presented by the delivery records of our Building for Sport and Recreation Programme (BSRP) in comparison to those of the consolidated MIG, is disgraceful," he said.
"Since the inception of the MIG in 2005 until the end of March 2010 (five financial years) a total of 155 sport and recreation facilities projects have been completed compared to 364 projects implemented over four financial years through the BSRP.
"This, in essence, means that the MIG projects over five financial years represent only 43% of the BSRP projects over four financial years. We are not willing to give up this fight, even if it creates a lot of enemies for us. We are by all means, willing to listen to compelling arguments that can help us build the much needed facilities to improve access to sport and recreation."
- I-Net Bridge
