South Africa will become the first African country to host the coveted Basketball without Borders NBA programme.
The announcement was made by Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula while delivering his Budget Vote in Parliament on Friday.
“Sport and Recreation will be hosting the 10th Anniversary of the Basket Ball without Borders NBA programme in Africa on 30 August 2012. This will be the first NBA tournament to be held on African soil,” he said.
Mbalula further said the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have agreed on the development and promotion of basketball in South Africa.
The SABC has committed itself to broadcast all the major games of the NBA during the course of 2012/13 to promote the sport and its development at grassroots level.
“We are delighted that as a result of our engagement, we are now able to view basketball matches on Sunday evenings. We are in partnership with Basketball South Africa and University Sport in South Africa to develop an all-round strategy for the promotion and sustenance of basketball in schools and universities.
“We will do all this utilising the limited resources we have and strive by all means to tap into other available resources in South Africa and elsewhere in the world to make the sport and recreation agenda a success,” he said.
Mbalula also announced that his department will be hosting a National Women and Sport Indaba later in the year wherein women across the board will be invited to tackle all strategic matters relating to challenges faced by women in sport.
“This Indaba shall include, but not limited to, women athletes, players, administrators, coaches, technical officials, fans as well as sportswomen in business, sportswomen legends and veterans, sport academia, sports women journalists, and women’s organisations.
“I therefore call on the private sector to grab this opportunity to get involved and make a real difference in our society,” he said.
Mbalula announced that the turnaround strategy for Boxing South Africa (BSA) was yielding good results.
He singled out the promising sound financial positioning of BSA and the progress made towards a structured support in the implementation of the strategy to strengthen South African National Amateur Boxing Organisation (SANABO).
The minister also announced the appointment of his Ministerial Advisory Committee on Recreation, which includes well-known sport presenter Robert Marawa.
The role of the committee will be to research the best practice in recreation delivery, norms and standards on the delivery and maintenance of recreational facilities as well as advising the ministry on the best ways to manage both sport and recreation.
Article by BuaNews