adminNgqwele Dube Sports Correspondent
THE Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture is finalising the national sports policy with the document expected to be presented to Cabinet within the next two months. Permanent secretary, Thokozile Chitepo said following wide consultations they are in the final stages of drafting the sports policy with a validation meeting expected to be held before the document is handed over to Cabinet for approval.
Chitepo said coming up with a clear outline for sports in the country was a priority for the ministry and they want to ensure it becomes operational as soon as possible.
“It’s a priority to us to get the policy operational as soon as possible because we believe it’ll have a positive impact on the sporting industry. We’ve consulted widely and feel the document contains all issues that were raised by the stakeholders.
“We’re going to hold a validation meeting before it’s tabled in Cabinet, where stakeholders come together to ensure what’s contained in the draft is what will take our sport forward,” she said.
Chitepo said they made wide consultations and had also incorporated previous input that had been made before the creation of an independent sports ministry in 2013 as a way of coming up with a holistic document.
“There are many people who gave their input including outside the consultative meetings that were organised by the Sport and Recreation Commission.
“A validation meeting will be the final stage of the process that will see the document being scrutinised by the stakeholders and getting their seal of approval,” she said.
The country has been operating without a sports policy but has recently seen calls for one rising and with the establishment of an independent sports ministry it was the first task sports stakeholders felt the government should craft. Lack of a coordinated policy has seen haphazard development of sportspersons while the country has struggled to compete against other nations at international stage.
Funding has been another issue that people are hoping will be addressed by the policy as corporate entities seem to shy away from funding sport.
The draft policy, states that there should be the establishment of a national sport and recreation funding model that would ensure continuity and sustainability of competitive sports and the model is expected to be in a national sport and recreation trust fund, national sport and cultural lottery private public partnerships, sponsorship and media rights, among others.
The proposed sports policy also calls on the government to establish a national high performance programme in order to attain elite level sports performance standards hence there will be national, provincial and district centres of excellence and shall be funded from the national fund.
The government will also be tasked with setting up of a National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO) that will coordinate all national anti-doping programmes in compliance with provisions of the World Anti-Doping Code and Unesco Convention.
A national curriculum for sports science, management and training will be adopted, if the policy is approved, in an effort to maintain high standards in sport education and training.
The policy document proposes that the government comes up with incentives in support of the development of the sports industry although there is no outline on how this will be done while a national insurance scheme will be in the offing, something that will be a welcome development for sportspersons who are currently not covered by any insurance scheme.
A national sport arbitration system for disciplinary and grievance handling will be established once the policy is in place.
The policy is set to be implemented in phases of five years each beginning this year, with periodic monitoring and evaluation being undertaken while a review of the policy will be held after every five years.
Bongani Moyo
Online Reporter