Western Cape Sport Summit Concluded

The 2005 Sport Summit held at Saldanha Bay, comprising of all federations of the Western Cape including SAFA regions unanimously resolved that Cape Town shall have one venue for 2010 FIFA World Cup ending many months of conflicting reports on the issue. This resolution was adopted by more than two hundred delegates representing various sport federations during a two-day sport indaba organized last weekend by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport to discuss transformation and a holistic development of sport and recreation in the province. The summit however did not mention the preferred venue for matches during the world cup in 2010.

At the same occasion, the sport federations of the Western Cape committed themselves to move closer to removing all sport related disputes from the courts of law in favor of an arbitration route as an alternative to dispute resolution.

All delegates welcomed the Western Cape Dispute Resolution Forum mooted by the Department as a mechanism to resolve disputes through the sport structures and the forum. It was viewed as a cost-saving exercise. All federations committed themselves to insert a dispute resolution clause in their constitutions by June 2006. This process will mark an end to protracted court cases that have been devilling the sport in the province and in the country.

The funding policy of the Department came under scrutiny. Delegates resolved to rework the funding framework enabling it to speak to transformation of sport and recreation. The Summit agreed that cohesion should be sought between funding of sport at local, district, provincial and Lottery funding to leverage the scarcity of resources. The Summit also made a strong case for more funding for sport and recreation programmes and to address social ills. The budget for sport and recreation in the province, delegates agreed is far to little and the MEC is mandated to meet with Treasury to make a case for a bigger budget, enabling him to reach the objectives of sport and recreation in the province.

Development framework was another point of discussion at which occasion the delegates resolved that the Department must engage the Tertiary Institutions to ensure the optimal delivery of development programmes. Earlier MEC Jacobs called on delegates to develop strategies and action plans that would ensure effective revival of competitive school sport. He also said that negotiations with the provincial Education Department were at an advanced stage to reserve Wednesdays as official sport' days to kick-off competition amongst schools. In response to the MEC call for revival of school sport it was felt that a facilities indaba be held to discuss the critical shortage of facilities at schools.

Ends all

Issued by:

Mandla Yeki
Spokesperson for Ministry
Cultural Affairs, Sport and Recreation
Tel: (021) 483 9804
Fax: (021) 483 9801
Mobile:082 553 3477
Protea Assurance Building, Green Market Square
Cape Town

Home for All - Tuiste vir Almal - iKhaya Lethu Sonke