The General Meeting of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) was held today at Olympic House.

In his opening address to council, the President of SASCOC Mr. Moss Mashishi said that Team South Africa was ready for Beijing and that plans were all on track. .

Mashishi also took time to wish the father of the South African nation, Nelson Mandela, a happy 90th birthday, and a special birthday cake was unveiled, and enjoyed by all.

Key note address speaker Danny Jordaan said that it was wonderful to be back addressing sport federations, and shared with the council some of the progress and challenges faced by the 2010 Fifa World Cup. He said South Africa was one of the first developing countries to host the soccer World Cup, and reiterated his confidence in South Africa's ability to host the world event, on behalf of Africa.

"Staging major events in South Africa have, since 1994, been a major part of the sporting environment in South Africa. It's about repositioning and rebranding the country," Jordaan said.

Going into the Olympic Games, Jordaan said that we should think positively, and should rather encourage than discourage our athletes.

"It's a period to think about and celebrate the likes of Natalie du Toit and Oscar Pistorius, as we think about and celebrate the lives of Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu. If you imagine a gold medal, or dream of a gold, it can happen," concluded Jordaan. He wished Team South Africa all the best of luck in Beijing.

In his address to council, the Deputy Sports Minister, Mr. Gert Oosthuizen said that transformation in federations remains fundamental. He said that succession planning was critical to all federations for the growth of the sport, and that everyone must develop a succession plan.

On the matter of transformation, Mr. Moss Mashishi told the meeting that SASCOC has engaged with Empowerdex to measure the transformation of sport in South Africa. A document was handed to the members, who will feed back to SASCOC with their comments.

In conclusion of the meeting, the following resolutions were taken:

That SASCOC, with immediate effect implement the Resolution of the previous AGM to set up a special committee, within the next seven days, to deal with the queries from Federations on the National Lottery Distribution Board.

That SASCOC deal with the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation, regarding the comments made by Mr. Komphela in the Mail & Guardian last week, in that it cuts ties with the Portfolio Committee until a conducive climate for a constructive relationship is established.

The floor further resolved that the members of SASCOC will not stand by lightly and accept the racial slurs attributed to Mr. Komphela.

The house empowers the executive to report the racial slurs in the MG article to the Human Rights Commission.

That SASCOC report back on executive board, commission and committee meetings at future meetings and that this becomes part and parcel of the agenda of the meetings.

That no person / body affiliated to SASCOC should be allowed to go out and damage the name of SASCOC, publicly irrespective of the circumstances.

In closing the meeting, SASCOC President said that the Board will take all the discussions as a positive input from its members, and that they will reflect on the issues at hand.

Statement issued by SASCOC President, Moss Mashishi, July 21 2008