Pretoria - The National Lotteries Board (NLB) has briefed Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation on funding for sport and recreation, and its plans to promote social cohesion.
In a statement on Tuesday, the NLB said it wanted to promote social cohesion and nation building through sport and recreation.
“The NLB wishes to promote a healthy lifestyle and gender integration by providing a platform for those communities that were excluded from sports development,” said NLB chairperson, Prof Alfred Nevhutanda.
The board was established in terms of the Lotteries Act (No 57 of 1997) to regulate the National Lottery, as well as other lotteries to raise funds and promotional competitions.
Members of the NLB are appointed by the Minister of Trade and Industry and NLB members are also trustees of the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), into which national lottery proceeds that are intended for allocation to good causes are deposited.
According to the NLB, the sport and recreation sector received over 43 000 applications by the November 2012 deadline, with the value of the requests at R6.5 billion.
Many of the applicants found it hard to comply with the prescribed funding requirements, said the NLB.
The budget available for the entire sport and recreation sector is in the region of R440 million (22% of R2 billion).
The board has carried out workshops in each of the nine provinces to help applicants understand requirements and to prepare for the call for applications. This has resulted in an increase in the number of applications and the value of the requests that the board receives.
In the briefing to Parliament, the board said special emphasis would be placed on talent identification, the provision of basic facilities and sport equipment, capacity building and support for local leagues among others.
Funds distribution
In order for the lottery funds to be spread as far as possible, the distributing agency for sport and recreation had to cap the maximum amounts that the various structures could apply for.
The maximum amounts that municipalities can apply for is R1 million, while for universities the cap is R1.2 million and national federations is R2 million.
“The capping of application amounts at the various levels shows commitment from the NLB to promote development at the various levels of sport so that there could be development from grassroots structures,” said Nevhutanda.
With government regulations, each province should receive at least 5% of the funds allocated for each sector.
Less resourced provinces (the Northern Cape, Free State and the North West) continued to have difficulty in accessing their share, and the NLB will soon have offices in these provinces to address this.
Nevhutanda expressed concern that NLB applicants that were used to receiving larger grants were becoming too reliant on NLB funding and this made it more difficult for smaller applicants that work at the level where talent is developed and nurtured.
The NLB also warned of fraudulent applications and abuse of funds.
“We are increasingly concerned by the highly emotive public outcry that NGOs will have to downsize or close operations if NLB grants are not allocated,” Prof Nevhutanda told Parliament.
In the 2012/13 financial year payments in the Sport and Recreation sector have been the Eastern Cape - R28.2 million, Free State - R24.1 million, and Mpumalanga - R15.1 million, among others. - SAnews.gov.za
