More money spent on Olympics expo than on athletics

By Mishkah Anthony
18 August 2008

The Democratic Alliance says more money was spent on an unsuccessful Olympics expo than on team preparation.

The DA will today write to the chairperson of the portfolio committee on sports, Butana Komphela, requesting him to summon the Department of Sports and Recreation to appear before the committee to explain its decision to host an R11 million rands expo at the Olympics which opened a week late and will close a week earlier than arranged.

Reports from Beijing indicate that the department’s hospitality centre, which was supposed to showcase the country at the games, is reportedly a big flop due to poor preparations by officials in the Department of Sports.

Invitations which should have been posted more than a year ago to members of the International Olympic Committee and other sports dignitaries at the games were only sent out a week after the centre should have been up and running.

Furthermore the DA says the department has not bothered to provide reasons for staging such an expensive event, including its delayed opening and the premature closure.

Lee says, “It is ironic that the Department has spent more on a poorly planned event than it has on Team SA’s preparations for the Olympics. Last year, the department gave the South African Sports Confederation and Olympics Committee only R9 million to prepare for the Olympics.”

“The underfunding of team preparations for international competitions is one of the major reasons for South Africa’s dismal performance at the Olympics.”

The DA feels the public deserves to know the real reasons for this waste of taxpayers’ money. It is unacceptable that an event of this importance can be mismanaged in this manner without action being taken against those responsible. The DA will use its representation in the portfolio committee on sports to ensure that appropriate action is taken against those responsible for this scandal.