Ken Borland

“People must not praise the government for supporting sport. That’s like praising a fish for swimming, it’s what it’s meant to do”.

So says Fikile Mbalula the sports minister and one of the more extraordinary people on a South African political scene that regularly shifts into the realm of the bizarre.

South Africans, like people in most other nations, have widely differing views on just what government should be doing and how well they are doing it, but the nation, almost as a whole, seems to be clamouring for more support for sport in the wake of the feel-good factor generated by the Olympics.

Sascoc initially set a target of 12 medals for the London Olympics, but given that the previous Games brought just a solitary silver medal for Khotso Mokoena in the long jump, nobody who was in their right minds believed that was likely.

Instead, the 2012 Olympics produced three golds, two silver and one bronze medal; and the target of 12 medals has now been allocated to the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

So who is going to be responsible and – that most un-South African concept – accountable for ensuring there are a dozen medals being paraded around O.R. Tambo International Airport in four years’ time?

Sascoc CEO Tubby Reddy admits that his organisation have the responsibility of ensuring sporting success.

“It’s very clear who the custodian of sport in South Africa is – it’s Sascoc. But we need to engage with government, the Department of Sport and the provinces.

“We cannot plan for 2016 if our funding is only annual. We need a cycle of funding and to build the most sustainable program going forward, we need government, the lottery and corporates.

“The minister of finance does not talk about sport, but we will go to Pravin Gordhan. We will push the politicians to unlock the resources. I understand there are other priorities, but sport is nation-building and it deserves some slice,” Reddy told the Mail and Guardian.

Mbalula is adamant that government has to find some money in its budget for sport.

“Government has got to come to the party. We need to support the young child in Gugulethu and Mitchell’s Plain, that’s what the Sports Plan is about, giving more than R1 billion. But the people need to put government under pressure to invest in sport so that we can compete with the likes of Australia,” Mbalula said.

The new Sports Plan will be launched on October 20. The high performance components of SA sport have been under the control of Sascoc for a while now, but the new dispensation will see the establishment of a national plan that will need to be implemented in all the provinces, while the government will look after sport at the school and grassroots levels.

“The national agenda needs to dictate the provincial pathway, it’s like the Springbok coach always says, he wants everyone playing the same way,” Reddy said. “The plan will also include the provincial academies, which for five or six years have been all over the place, and the coaching framework.

“The school sport plan has not worked for many years, physical education is out of the curriculum and what is taught in life orientation skills is just not the same. It took the two ministers [sport and education] longer than envisaged to decide how the new process would work, but Minister Mbalula has the passion, nothing is impossible with him, and he has the drive.”

Of course, part of the reason for the improved medal haul this year from one to 12 was the increased financial support from corporate South Africa. Companies like Sasol, Nedbank, Vodacom and SAB have a long history of backing sport, but there have been some strident voices out there calling on them to give more, because it’s “payback time”.

Such arrogance can only murder the golden goose and, as it is, the confidence of corporate South Africa in sports administrators is not exactly of the highest order.

According to some public critics, the tracks of the government gravy train also reach the offices of Sascoc in Melrose and there is obviously something of a power struggle going on between the organisation and some of the national federations.

“With due respect to the federations, they are not always right when it comes to their talent identification and we have to verify a lot of their submissions. We can’t go to the Olympic Games and wonder if we’re going to get medals, so we have to work together with the national federations,” Reddy said.

The Chinese approach of centralised control is obviously the template Mbalula favours.

“We must do what China do. We can’t compete with them, but we can replicate what they do within our limits. This one-off talent identification is a killer. There must be a process, from when the athletes are school kids,” Mbalula said.

The selection process for Rio could well begin as early as next year …

“In 2013 we must roll out the best of the best, set the standards and eliminate those who can’t reach them. We can’t wait for the sports plan to take effect for the next Olympics, we need to start now,” the sports minister stated.

The South African sports-loving fraternity will hope the minister’s words are backed by the wallet of government – the hard-earned taxes they themselves have paid.

South Africa’s players believe in the game plan employed by coach Heyneke Meyer and the environment around the team allows them the latitude to disagree, Springbok captain Jean de Villiers said on Thursday.

Meyer has been criticised in South Africa for a rigid game plan that revolves around the forwards bashing the ball up to get over the gain line, with the backline generally being used to implement the kicking and territory games the Springboks have used in recent years.

South Africa won the first two tests of their series against England in June before drawing the third, and they won their opening Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Cape Town, without a four-try bonus point, before being held to a shock draw last weekend in Mendoza by the debutants in the southern hemisphere competition that was formerly known as the Tri-Nations.

“When you don’t live up to expectations then you will be criticised. But the important thing is that we believe in what we are doing, we are set on a game plan that we believe can produce winning rugby,” centre De Villiers told a news conference at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Thursday.

“We definitely don’t feel like it’s a dictatorship. Heyneke is a new coach trying to get his message across as to how he wants us to play. But we’re all grown-ups, if we disagree then we’ll stand up and say so. We believe in what the coach is trying to do, if that changes, then I believe our environment, the system the team operates in, allows us to have the space to express our views.”

While the Springboks were panned for playing one-dimensional, forward-dominated rugby against Argentina, De Villiers said he felt the backline had been more effective than they were given credit for.

“I’ve looked at the game again and I felt a bit better about it after that. A lot of positives can come out of that game, although there’s obviously lots to work on.

“I thought we attacked really nicely at times, we created space and now the goal is to get the ball into that space. We’re not always using the forwards to get momentum, sometimes we use them to take the ball up and then the next phase we’ll go wide.

“But we have to make sure we protect the ball out wide and not let the opposition spoil it at the ends of the field,” De Villiers said.

The 31-year-old veteran of 77 tests said discipline, the set-phases and adapting to the referee’s ruck interpretations were some of the areas that needed improvement ahead of the Australasian leg of their Rugby Championship campaign that features matches against Australia in Perth on September 8 and versus New Zealand in Dunedin on September 15.

“If we were a mediocre team, then everyone would be happy with our performances, but we believe that we’re a better team than we showed in Mendoza. So these games are an opportunity to step up as a team and show what we can produce.

“We need to learn from our experiences, we can’t make the same mistakes, and we are doing that – we improved from our game in Cape Town.

“But we’re at 50-60% of where we want to be, so obviously we have to improve. The margins are very small in test rugby and it’s the small things that make the difference,” De Villiers said.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer on Wednesday recalled openside flank Francois Louw and chose the uncapped duo of eighthman Duane Vermeulen and flyhalf Johan Goosen to open the possibility of a significant change in approach for the Springboks’ two Rugby Championship matches in Australia and New Zealand.

South Africa opened their Rugby Championship campaign against debutants Argentina, beating them 27-6 in Cape Town but without a try-scoring bonus point, before being held to a shock 16-16 draw in Mendoza last weekend.

Amidst massive criticism of the game plan the Springboks have employed so far this year, Meyer suggested some willingness to change on Wednesday when he gave first call-ups to Vermeulen and Goosen.

The 26-year-old Vermeulen has been a star for the Stormers with his powerhouse displays from the back of the scrum, but several injuries have prevented him from being chosen earlier for the Springboks.

The 20-year-old Goosen sprung to prominence in last year’s IRB Junior World Championship before making a prolific SuperRugby debut for the Cheetahs this year, until a serious shoulder injury ruled him out of action from the beginning of May until last weekend.

“Injuries meant we could not use Duane and Johan earlier in the season, but both have played Currie Cup rugby since their return and, after consultation with their respective provincial medical teams, we’re confident that they are ready to travel with us. While Duane and Johan are medically fit, their provincial coaches felt it necessary that they get more game time in the Currie Cup this weekend, but as we don’t have a lot of time to prepare and we need as much time with them as possible to get them used to our structures and game plans, the decision was taken to select them for the tour,” Meyer said in a statement released by the South African Rugby Union on Wednesday.

“I regard both of them as world-class rugby players. If it wasn’t for injuries, Duane would have been a Springbok long ago. I also believe Johan has a long career ahead of him at test match level and we will expose him when and how we feel it will benefit the player and the team best.”

The lack of a specialist fetcher in the Springbok squad had also been criticised, with Louw getting a summons from Meyer despite the fact that he now plays his rugby in England for Bath. A raft of injuries in South Africa’s loose forward stocks have also complicated matters, with veterans Schalk Burger and Juan Smith, Heinrich Brussow and new Stormers sensation Siya Kolisi all ruled out at the moment, while Ryan Kankowski is currently playing rugby in Japan.

“We were very keen to give Siya Kolisi an opportunity on this tour, but he is also out injured. Francois played at the Rugby World Cup last year and is an experienced player.  We opted for Francois because he is a specialist openside flanker, in the absence of Schalk, Heinrich and Siya, that can cover blindside and number eight as well, while he is also a very useful option in the lineout,” Meyer said.

South Africa’s young squad – 20 of the 28 are under 28 years old – will have to learn quickly from their mistakes in Argentina, where their dependence on physical dominance failed as the Pumas matched them in the collisions.

The inclusion of Goosen, who has a prodigious boot but can also spark a backline, and recalled World Cup centre Juan de Jongh suggests Meyer has heard the call for more creative play from his team.

Loose forward Keegan Daniel, who Meyer had suggested would see action against Australia, and utility back JJ Engelbrecht are the players omitted from the squad that went to Argentina.

Squad – Zane Kirchner, Pat Lambie, Bryan Habana, Lwazi Mvovo, Jean de Villiers, Francois Steyn, Juan de Jongh, Morne Steyn, Johan Goosen, Ruan Pienaar, Francois Hougaard, Jano Vermaak, Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts, Marcell Coetzee, Francois Louw, Jacques Potgieter, Juandre Kruger, Eben Etzebeth, Flip van der Merwe, Andries Bekker, Pat Cilliers, Tendai Mtawarira, Jannie du Plessis, Dean Greyling, Adriaan Strauss, Tiaan Liebenberg, Craig Burden.

The Sunshine Tour announced two new co-sanctioned events with the European Tour on Tuesday, bringing to six the number of tournaments to be played in South Africa during the 2013 Race to Dubai season.
The Nelson Mandela Championship, to be staged in association with the former South Africa president’s Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, will be held from December 6-9, while the Tshwane Open, backed by the country’s administrative capital, Pretoria, will take place from February 28 to March 3, 2013.
The Tshwane Open at the Els Club Copperleaf will have prizemoney of 1.5 million euro, meaning the winner will gain a two-year exemption on the European Tour, while the purse for the Nelson Mandela Championship has yet to be finalised, but Sunshine Tour executive director Selwyn Nathan said it would be “a minimum of one million euro”.
The Sunshine Tour also announced on Tuesday that the prizemoney for the Alfred Dunhill Championship, to be played at Leopard Creek from December 13-16, has also been increased to 1.5 million euro.
South Africa is now the country that will host the most European Tour events, with the South African Open, Africa Open and Joburg Open also being co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour.
“I’m particularly excited that we have another two European Tour co-sanctioned events, as it shows the confidence one of the two major tours in the world has in us,” Nathan said. “It’s a really special day for us and we hope the stars will support these events. They show we have a face in international golf.”
Although the venue for the Nelson Mandela Championship has also yet to be finalised, Nathan confirmed that it would be held at one of two coastal courses – the Royal Durban Golf Club or Humewood in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. The head of the Sunshine Tour said they were in the process of making sure facilities at the two courses were all in order and they would be paying particular attention to practice facilities and hospitality capability.
“We are hoping the Nelson Mandela Championship will be held for a minimum of three years and it would be wonderful if it could stay in the same place. There are also a whole bunch of opportunities with international players who are in the country already to play at Sun City the week before,” Nathan said.
The Tshwane municipality’s executive mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, said his council are guaranteeing R44 million (4.18 million euro) per annum for their tournament until the Sunshine Tour can find sufficient sponsors.

“The money we are guaranteeing is an investment we are making in ensuring coverage for Tshwane all over the world and it’s a small contribution compared to the budget for the indigent programs that will provide relief to the poor,” Ramokgopa said.

The Tshwane Open, which will be held at the Els Club Copperleaf for the next three years, will bring to an end a month of co-sanctioned events in Africa, including the Africa and Joburg Opens, before the tour returns to Europe.