The South African Local Government Association (Salga) has called for sweeping changes to be introduced to ensure that sports development has its fair share in the national fiscus.
Salga is an umbrella body of all municipalities across the country.
The call was made by Thamsanqa Ntuli, the association’s chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal, who was answering questions from Sunday World on the sidelines of the Salga elimination rounds held in King Cetshwayo district at the weekend.
Ntuli conceded that failure by the government to allocate funds for sport development in local councils has led to poor infrastructure, especially in struggling municipalities, and hindered the unearthing of raw talent.
He pointed out that because of the current status quo, municipalities have to scramble for funds from other projects to sponsor sports and develop the needed infrastructure for different sporting codes.
“The problem is that there were no funds allocated to municipalities to develop sports and improve infrastructure,” he said.
“The explanation that government always gives is that sports development is not the mandate of municipalities. In essence, there was no money set aside for sports development.”
He explained that failure to allocate sufficient resources for sport promotion has led to scores of young people who would have used sports as a livelihood falling between the cracks.
“That is why among the proposal that Salga has put on the table is for the change in funding model.
“We believe that this will ensure that municipalities are allocated sufficient grants which can be diverted towards sports development and promotion.
“Another suggestion is for municipalities to have a ring-fenced budget for sports.”
Under the current funding model, National Treasury allocates 51% of the budget to national government, 40% to provinces while a meagre 9% is given to the local government sector to be distributed to various municipalities.
The Salga games, which are an annual sporting event for the province, will be held in the City of uMhlathuze from December 8-10, where various districts will lock horns against each for the ultimate prize of the bragging rights.
