The DA has criticised the Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR) under the ANC for wasting more than R13 million on gala events while much-needed sporting facilities have been left to fall apart.
While numerous sporting facilities across the Gauteng province have been witnessed falling apart and deteriorating day by day, the provincial DA has blasted the leadership of the ANC in the province of wasting resources on frivolous events while athletes have nowhere to call home.
DA spokesperson for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Kingsol Chabalala said given how the province was home to many talented athletes, it was a dismal state of affairs that the provincial government had struggled to provide adequate access to sporting facilities for training and development.
This was especially as the department had, according to Chabalala, failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for their expenditure of nearly R13.6 million on gala events for the Gauteng Sports Awards for the past two financial years.
According to Chabalala, the department could not fully detail at the provincial legislature what services were rendered to it, setting it back R5.8m during the 2021/2022 financial year and R7.8m for the 2022/2023.
As per responses to oral questions, Chabalala said Gauteng Sports MEC Morakane Mosupyoe had informed representatives that millions were paid to service providers for providing venue and decor, safety and security, catering, audiovisuals, portable ablutions, entertainment, presenters, photo shoots, transport, and generators during the gala events.
“This is suspicious because the department could have paid far less for all the services it obtained by utilising state-owned venues and vehicles, as well as a departmental photographer among other in-house services.
“Gauteng athletes, particularly in the townships and outskirts of Gauteng, face enormous challenges posed by the lack of sporting infrastructure. The money wasted on gala events could have been used to build new sporting facilities and rehabilitate those in existence.”
As far back as 2021, Pretoria News highlighted the dire state of a number of sporting facilities in the city, many of which, including the Odi Stadium in Mabopane, had been reduced to ruins by vandals because of negligence.
The Caledonian Stadium, also in Tshwane, was due to be refurbished after it was allocated R67m. However, the project, which was due to be completed in three years, also missed its completion deadline.
The Bob Van Reenen Stadium in Mogale City is another facility in ruins, despite numerous plans and attempts through the years to give it new life.
Chabalala said other facilities left in tatters included the George Thabe Stadium in Sharpeville, the Rus-Ter-Vaal Stadium in Vereeniging as well as the Zone 7 Stadium in Sebokeng which had been stripped to the ground.
“It is concerning that Premier Panyaza Lesufi fails to crack the whip on this department despite its failure to deliver on its core mandate and eradicate fruitless and wasteful expenditures amid the many challenges faced by our communities.”
Chabalala added: “It is time for members of the athletic and artistic communities to cast their ballots in support of a DA government that cares more about infrastructure development and resource availability than a government that blatantly wastes millions on things of no importance like decor and photo shoots.”
Attempts to get comment from Zimasa Velaphi, Sport, Arts and Culture spokesperson, were unsuccessful at the time of print.
The Star