2013 Sports Awards to cost R65 million
In a reply to a DA parliamentary question, the Minister of Sports and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula, has revealed that his Department intends to spend a whopping R65 million on the 2013 SA Sports Awards. In 2012, R27 million was spent on the SA Sports Awards. This means, in effect, the cost of hosting the Sports Awards almost tripled within the last year.
I will write to the Auditor-General, Terrence Nobembe, requesting that this expenditure be classified as fruitless and wasteful, and that Minister Mbalula be disciplined accordingly.
According to the Minister, the Department has allocated R21 million of its budget to the awards and the R44 million balance will be sourced through sponsorships and partners - this is money that should have been spent on fulfilling crucial aspects of his Department's mandate such as increasing participation in sport in disadvantaged communities. It is simply unacceptable that Minister Mbalula chooses to spend a R65 million on amplifying ‘razzmatazz' instead of service delivery.
R65 million could have been used to provide:
- 86 multi-purpose sports fields at R750,000 each
- 3,250 swimming pools at R20,000 each
- 11 rugby fields at R5.5 million
- 13 soccer fields at R5 million each
- 1,625,000 soccer balls at R40 each
- Support to 541 Mass Participation, Opportunity and Access, Development and Growth (MOD) centres at R120,000 per annum each.
In the DA-run Western Cape, the MOD programme strives to create a socially inclusive and active province. There are currently 174 MOD centres across the Western Cape that provide sport and recreational activities to over 12,000 learners from disadvantaged communities and underserved schools. MOD has expanded significantly since its introduction in 2010, and now provides employment and skills development for over 500 community workers across the province.
Minister Mbalula has made it clear that his main priority in his portfolio is razzmatazz, glitz and glamour and not providing services to those that most need it in South Africa.
Statement issued by Winston Rabotapi, DA Shadow Minister of Sports and Recreational Development, May 16 2013
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