Mbombela - Sporting activities in the province are expected to get a boost after a R1.5 million cheque was handed over to the Mpumalanga Sport Confederation (MSC).
Culture, Sport and Recreation MEC Sibongile Manana handed the cheque to MSC chairman Linda Zwane during the recent Mpumalanga Sport and Recreation Indaba at Mbombela stadium.
"The MSC is the umbrella body (for) all sport and recreation structures in the province. The cheque is a grant aimed at enabling the MSC to perform its duties during the 2011/12 financial year," said Zwane on Tuesday.
Zwane said the MSC supports sport federations and councils at municipal and regional level and monitors and evaluates their work in different communities.
"We also aim to align programmes within the sporting fraternity to the National Sport Plan. We also account to the department at the provincial level and advise them on matters of sport and recreation," said Zwane.
Manana said the MSC is expected to be agents of positive change and contribute towards making the country a winning sporting nation.
"As government, we know that alone we cannot achieve the mandate of creating sport stars in the country," said Manana.
She said uniformity was needed to help sports federations and the department to move in the same direction.
The indaba was attended by more than 150 delegates, who made suggestions on how the province could turn into a model of sporting excellence.
The delegates proposed a unified and transformed sporting structure for schools, increased access to participation opportunities and a professional coaching framework for all sporting codes to help produce top athletes.
Manana said the department would work with the MSC to tighten the provincial document before submitting it to the national department of sport and recreation. A national indaba will then be held.
Manana added that the department had set in motion campaigns, projects, strategies and tactics to boost the sport and recreation sector.
