Sport and Recreation South Africa Yearbook 2015/16 - South Africa Yearbook 2015/16

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Sport and Recreation South Africa Yearbook 2015/16 - South Africa Yearbook 2015/16
Sport and Recreation

                                      South Africa Yearbook 2015/16

                                           Sport and
                                          Recreation

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16   393
Sport and Recreation

 The aim of the Department of Sport and              • R628,6 million to support the provision
 Recreation South Africa (SRSA) is to oversee          of mass participation opportunities in sport
 the development and management of sport and           and recreation under the banner of the Active
 recreation in South Africa.                           Nation programme
    The department was established in terms of       • R133,2 million to develop and maintain an
 the National Sport and Recreation Act, 1998           integrated support system to enhance the
 (Act 110 of 1998) which provides the framework        delivery of sport and recreation
 for relationships between the department and        • R124,8 million for provision of strategic
 its external clients. This includes the SRSA's        leadership, management and a support
 partnership with the South African Sports Confed-     service to the department and the sector
 eration and Olympic Committee (SASCOC),             • R92,2 million to support the development of
 which is key to improving South Africa’s interna-     elite athletes
 tional ranking in selected sports.                  • R9,7 million towards the regulation and
    The Act also ensures that sport and physical       management of the provision of sport and
 education contribute to social cohesion by            recreation facilities.
 legislating on sports infrastructure and partici-
 pation.                                             Entities
    The department is also guided by the policy      The department administers and controls two
 documents from the United Nations (UN)              public entities:
 which are relevant to the sport and recreation      • Boxing South Africa (BSA), which was
 sector. The post-2015 Development Goals               established in terms of the South African
 were adopted by the UN General Assembly on            Boxing Act, 2001 (Act 11 of 2001).
 25 September 2015 and they succeeded the            • The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport
 Millennium Development Goals.                         (SAIDS), which was established in terms of the
    The SRSA took note of the revised Interna-         SAIDS Act 1997 (Act 14 of 1997) as amended.
 tional Charter of Physical Education and Sport
 by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural      Boxing South Africa
 Organisation (UNESCO) that was adopted at its       BSA's intention is to ensure effective and
 General Conference on 11 November 2015.             efficient administration of professional boxing in
                                                     South Africa; to create synergy between profes-
 Sport and Recreation South                          sional and amateur boxing; and to promote
 Africa                                              interaction between associations of boxers,
 Aligned with the SRSA's vision of an active and     managers, promoters, trainers, officials and
 winning nation, the department primarily focuses    BSA.
 on providing opportunities for all South Africans      It also considers applications for licences from
 to participate in sport; manages the regulatory     all stakeholders in professional boxing. By the
 framework; and provides funding for different       end of the 2015, BSA had granted 901 licences.
 sporting codes.                                     The organisation had 110 newcomers from all
    The right to participate in sport has been       the provinces with 13 of them being female.
 embodied in UN instruments such as the                  BSA sanctions fights; implements the relevant
 Convention on the Rights of the Child and the       regulations; and trains boxers, promoters, ring
 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of       officials, managers and trainers.
 Discrimination Against Women. It is recognised         During 2015, BSA established the Disciplinary
 as a right which all governments should make        Committee, Arbitration Committee and the
 available to people.                                Appeals Committee. The sporting body
    The SRSA aims to maximise access,                also established fully functional ratings and
 development and excellence at all levels of         sanctioning committees.
 participation in sport and recreation to improve       BSA planned to host international tournaments
 the quality of life for all South Africans.         in 2015/16 to improve the visibility of the sport
                                                     domestically and internationally; and also
 Budget and funding                                  increase its popularity among all relevant
 The total allocation for the department was         stakeholders including athletes, supporters and
 R988,5 million, having gone up by R18,1 million     sponsors. By the end of 2015, BSA had staged
 from the previous year’s allocation of R970,4       71 tournaments.
 million. This constituted budget growth of 1.87%.      In May 2016, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula
    The allocation of the budget was:                announced Tsholofelo Lejaka as the new chief

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16                    394
Sport and Recreation

 executive of BSA and detailed SRSA's plan to            tional Anti-Doping Arrangement and the
 restore boxing to its former glory.                     Association of National Anti-Doping Organi-
    Over 1.3 million households across the country       sations. Special assistance and support was
 enjoyed live boxing matches following the return        given to the South African Doping Control
 of the sport to the small screen in 2015. The           Laboratory in Bloemfontein, Free State, in
 SRSA invested approximately R11 million to              order for it to meet the obligations of the new
 roll out the Boxing is Back initiative which was        anti-doping code. The budget allocated to
 launched in seven of the nine provinces.                SAIDS by SRSA was R19.8 million.
    Some other key successes in the boxing
 fraternity included the opportunity for revenue       Transformation in sport
 generation for BSA and opportunities for              In line with the National Sport and Recreation
 upcoming promoters, boxers and dedicated              Plan (NSRP), a pilot transformation audit was
 slots for women boxers.                               conducted on the top five National Federations:
                                                       rugby; cricket; soccer; netball and athletics.
 South African Institute for Drug-Free                    In August 2015, the Recognition of Women in
 Sport                                                 Sport programme, which aimed to honour the
 The SAIDS, as the national anti-doping organi-        role of women in sport, was celebrated alongside
 sation, is mandated to promote participation in       government’s Women’s Month Programme.
 sport without the use of prohibited performance-         The objective was to encourage women's
 enhancing substances and methods.                     participation and to highlight the role they play
   All South African sports organisations and          in sport.
 national federations are obliged to recognise            Women’s achievements in sport were also
 SAIDS’ authority and to comply with its directives    celebrated during the 2015 South African Sport
 following South Africa’s endorsement of the           Awards ceremony held in Mangaung, Free
 World Anti-Doping Code and the UNESCO                 State, in November 2015.
 convention on anti doping.                               The Ministerial Recognition of Excellence
   The organisation's key focus areas are:             Awards went to Zanele Situ, Faith Sibeko,
 • Doping control: The SAIDS is responsible            Zola (Budd) Pieterse, Hestrie (Cloete) Els and
   for the development of anti-doping policies.        Geraldine Pillay.
   The institute conducts a comprehensive,
   independent and effective national doping-          Role players
   control programme on South African athletes         South African Sports Confederation and
   competing at regional, national and interna-        Olympic Committee
   tional levels. The SAIDS also conducts in–          The SRSA and SASCOC cooperate closely on
   and out-of-competition doping control tests on      issues of mutual importance, and the SRSA
   international athletes on behalf of international   provides funding to SASCOC for initiatives such
   sports federations and other international          as the preparation of elite athletes for interna-
   anti-doping organisations.                          tional events.
 • Education: The SAIDS provides anti-doping              The committee is the national controlling
   education, information and awareness for            body for the promotion and development of
   athletes; coaches; parents; sports organi-          high-performance sport in South Africa and
   sations; members of the medical, pharma-            consults with relevant sports bodies in this
   ceutical and sports-science professions;            regard.
   tertiary-education institutions; and the public.       SASCOC represents South Africa for all
 • Research: The SAIDS conducts sociological           multi-coded sport participating in international
   research about the knowledge, attitude and          games, such as the Olympic Games; Paralympic
   use of performance-enhancing drugs among            Games; Commonwealth Games; and All-Africa
   South African sportspeople, for the purpose of      Games.
   planning and implementing effective doping-            Working with SASCOC, the Free State
   control and education programmes.                   Provincial Government and through contri-
 • International collaboration: South Africa is an     butions from all provincial sport and recreation
   active participant in the global effort to combat   departments, SRSA set aside an amount of
   drugs in sport. The SAIDS collaborates closely      R26 million per year, over the Medium Term
   with counterparts worldwide to improve the          Expenditure Framework period, to strengthen
   of standards and practices in doping control.       the National Training Centre (NTC) based in the
   South Africa is a member of both the Interna-       Free State Sport Science Institute.

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16                      395
Sport and Recreation

   The NTC is an Olympic preparatory institution   • Fitness Sport Aerobics Federation of Southern
 for Team South Africa and forms part of             Africa
 the National Academy System for elite and         • Handball Federation of Southern Africa
 high-performance sports.                          • Judo South Africa
   The centre prepares national teams and          • Jukskei South Africa
 athletes with scientific, medical and sport-      • Karate South Africa
 specific support.                                 • Korfball Federation of South Africa
                                                   • Lifesaving South Africa
 African Union Sports Council Region               • Majorette and Cheerleading Association
 Five (AUSC)                                         South Africa
 The AUSC Region Five is one of the five regions   • Martial Arts and Games Committee of South
 entrusted with the responsibility to develop        Africa
 sport under the African Union. This follows the   • Masters Sports Association of Southern Africa
 dissolution of the Supreme Council for Sport      • Mind Sports South Africa
 in Africa (SCSA), under which tRegion 5 was       • Modern Pentathlon Association of South Africa
 known as SCSA Zone VI.                            • Motorsport South Africa
                                                   • National Amateur Bodybuilding Association of
 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)                     South Africa
 The World Anti-Doping Agency aims to bring        • National Horseracing Authority
 consistency to anti-doping policies and           • National Pigeon Organisation of Southern
 regulations within sport organisations and          Africa
 governments across the world.                     • National Boxing Organisation of Southern
   The WADA's NO! to Doping campaign, which          Africa
 has been running since 2010, has become the       • Netball South Africa
 leading awareness campaign for most sporting      • Orienteering Federation of Southern Africa
 codes around the globe.                           • Parachute Association of South Africa
                                                   • Physically Disabled Association
 National sport federations                        • Powerlifting Federation of South Africa
 The various sporting codes in South Africa are    • Powerboat South Africa
 governed by their own federations and associ-     • Ringball South Africa
 ations. These include:                            • Roller Sport South Africa
 • Aero Club of South Africa                       • Rowing South Africa
 • AFL South Africa                                • SASCOC
 • Amateur Fencing Association of Southern         • Scrabble South Africa
   Africa                                          • Sheep Shearing Federation of Southern Africa
 • Anglers and Casting Federation of Southern      • Shooting Sport Federation of South Africa
   Africa                                          • Snooker and Billiards South Africa
 • Archery South Africa                            • Snow Sports South Africa
 • Athletics South Africa                          • Squash South Africa
 • Badminton South Africa
 • Baseball Union of Southern Africa                 Wayde van Niekerk, 24, is a track and field sprinter who
                                                     competes in the 200 and 400 metre races.
 • Basketball South Africa
                                                     He is the 2016 world record holder and Olympic champion
 • Bowls South Africa                                in the 400m after breaking Michael Johnson's 1999 record.
 • Boxing South Africa                                   Van Niekerk is the first person, in history, to run faster
 • Bridge Federation of Southern Africa              than 10 seconds for 100m, 20 seconds for 200m and 44
 • Canoeing South Africa                             seconds for 400m.
 • Chess South Africa                                He was a silver medallist in the 400m at the 2014 Com-
 • Clay Target Shooting Association of South         monwealth Games and took bronze in the 4×400m relay at
   Africa                                            the 2013 Summer Universiade in Russia.
 • Confederation of Cue Sport South Africa               Wayde was initially keen on pursuing the high jump but
                                                     he switched focus to sprinting after qualifying for the 200m
 • Cricket South Africa
                                                     at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Moncton,
 • Cycling South Africa                              Canada. He always ran 100m and 200m until 2012 when
 • Dance Sport Federation of Sport South Africa      he joined Ans Botha, the great-grandmother coach, who
 • Darts South Africa                                convinced him to run the 400m.
 • Deaf Sports Federation of Southern Africa             He was born prematurely at 29 weeks, weighed 1.9kg
 • Federation Bocce                                  and doctors said he would not survive.

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16                  396
Sport and Recreation

 •   Soaring Society of South Africa                        Of the 100 outputs set out on the NSRP, 59%
 •   Softball South Africa                                had already been implemented by the SRSA by
 •   South African Amateur Fencing Association            mid-2016.
 •   South African Bodyboarding Association                 While it is envisaged that the White Paper on
 •   South African Deep Sea Angling Association           Sport and Recreation will remain relevant until
 •   South African Figure Skating Association             2019, the NSRP is closely monitored annually to
 •   South African Fly Fishing Association                identify any obstacles that may affect implemen-
 •   South African Football Association                   tation and the plan will be reviewed in 2020.
 •   South African Gold Panning Association                 The five strategic focus points of the NSRP
 •   South African Golf Association                       are: transformation; priority codes; ethical
 •   South African Gymnastics Federation                  environments; geopolitical sports boundaries as
 •   South African Hang Gliding and Paragliding           well as amateur and professional sport.
     Association
 •   South African Hockey                                 School Sport Programme
 •   South African Ice Hockey Association                 The Schools League Programme, which is the
 •   South African National Archery Association           main project for the School Sport Programme,
 •   South African National Equestrian Federation         starts in February and runs until June every year.
 •   South African Polo Association                          Part of the league comprises schools
 •   South African Practical Shooting Association         competing in intra-school and inter-school
 •   South African Rugby Union                            league competitions prior to the National School
 •   South African Sailing                                Sport Championships which take place towards
 •   South African Shore Angling Association              the end of each year.
 •   South African Sports Association for the Intellec-      Other key elements of the School Sport
     tually Impaired                                      Programme include:
 •   South African Tennis Association                     • the capacity development programme, which
 •   South African Underwater Sports Federation              involves the training of educators and sport
 •   Surfing South Africa                                    volunteers in sport-specific programmes
 •   Swimming South Africa                                • providing sport equipment and sport attire
 •   Table Tennis Board of Southern Africa                   support to disadvantaged schools
 •   Taekwondo Federation of South Africa                 • providing cluster coordinators to aid the
 •   Tenniquoits Board of South Africa                       delivery and support of sport
 •   Tenpin Bowling Association of South Africa           • identifying of sport-focused schools in which
 •   Transplant Sports Association of South Africa           athletes can be placed to further their sport
 •   Triathlon South Africa                                  development
 •   Tug of War Federation of South Africa                • the support to school sport structures at local,
 •   University Sport South Africa                           district, provincial and national levels.
 •   Volleyball South Africa                              There are more than 25 000 schools in South
 •   Water Ski Federation of Southern Africa              Africa and around 19 000 are registered to
 •   Weightlifting Federation of Southern Africa          participate in the league system.
 •   Wrestling South Africa                                  The 2015 National School Sport Champi-
 •   Wushu Federation of Southern Africa.                 onships were held in Pretoria in December.
                                                             A sum of R110 million was spent in the School
 Programmes and projects                                  Sport Subprogramme which provides for the
 National Sport and Recreation Plan                       roll-out of school sport in provinces and funds
 (NSRP)                                                   the National School Sport Championships.
 The NSRP is a 20-year sustainable implemen-                 A sum of R78,9 million was allocated for the
 tation plan for the Sport and Recreation Policy          championships, which will be hosted once a year
 Framework as captured in the White Paper                 in 2015/16 and 2016/17, and twice in 2017/18.
 on Sport and Recreation. The department has                 The number of participants is expected to
 ensured that the NSRP is aligned with the                increase from 12 000 to 16 000 as there has
 National Development Plan.                               been an increase in the number of sports codes
   The strategic focus of the NSRP is to                  included in each championship.
 reconstruct and revitalise the sport and                    Some 726 schools were allocated sport
 recreation sector. It aims to encourage an active        equipment and attire as part of SRSA's
 and winning nation whilst improving the quality          intervention to capacitate a specific number of
 of lives of all South Africans.                          schools annually.

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16                         397
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 National Sports Volunteer Corps (NSVC)              10th Annual Indigenous Games Festival
 Talented players, athletes, coaches and adminis-    (IG 2015)
 trators across different sporting codes have        The 10th annual Indigenous Games Festival,
 contributed immensely towards South Africa          hosted by the SRSA, was held to celebrate
 being recognised as one of the best sporting        Heritage Month from 20 to 24 September 2015
 countries worldwide.                                in Polokwane, Limpopo.
    The purpose of the NSVC is to provide               The festival was hosted in partnership with
 a platform through which sport greats and           the City of Polokwane and Limpopo Department
 interested South African citizens can use their     of Sport, Arts and Culture, as well as the
 experience, expertise and passion for sport to      Department of Cooperative Governance and
 contribute towards the development of future        Traditional Affairs.
 sport stars.                                           Similar to other sport and recreation codes,
    A school sports bursary, which offers R100 000   indigenous games impact positively on socio-
 towards covering the cost of education and          economic issues such as African identity; cultural
 support required by pupils, opened many             diversity; education and training; accessibility of
 opportunities for sports veterans and attracted     resources; international relations; and economic
 retired sports people who had registered with       growth.
 the department to offer their help as coaches,         The games played included Ncuva, Jukskei,
 officials and sports administrators.                Dibeke, Diketo, Iintonga, Morabaraba, Kho-kho,
                                                     Drie Stokkies and Kgati.
 Major events                                           The indigenous games serve as a vehicle
 Netball World Cup                                   to afford all South Africans an opportunity to
 The Spar Protea Netball team came fifth overall     be athletes, regardless of race, age or cultural
 at the 14th Netball World Cup held in Sydney,       background. The event also showcased unity
 Australia, in August 2015.                          through sport as well as community participation.

 11th African Games                                  International Rugby Board World Cup
 Team South Africa finished third and scooped        The Springboks came third at the Interna-
 122 medals at the 11th African Games in             tional Rugby Board World Cup held in London
 Brazzaville, Congo, in September 2015.              in October 2015 and walked away with bronze
                                                     medals.
 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games
 The South African swimming team brought             FINA/Airweave Swimming World Cup
 home a total of 35 medals from the 2015             During the Fina World Cup, which took place
 Commonwealth Youth Games held in Samoa in           from August to November 2015 in cities including
 September. They won 12 gold, 16 silver and 16       Moscow and Toyko, Cameron van der Burgh
 bronze medals.                                      and Chad le Clos came out tops with 369 and
    On 10 September, Zane Waddell was the star       180 points respectively.
 of the competition after bagging his fourth gold
 medal in the 50 m freestyle.                        Transnet Rural and Farm Schools
    Waddell was also part of the gold-winning 4 x    National Tournament
 100 m medley relay team, alongside Neil Fair,       Established in QwaQwa in 2002, the Transnet
 Brendan Levy and James Isemonger.                   Rural and Farm Schools Development
    Isemonger and Fair raced in the 200 m breast-    Programme is one of the flagship projects within
 stroke and 200 m individual medley respectively,    the Transnet Foundation’s sports portfolio.
 and won a bronze medal each.                          The Rural and Farm Schools Sport
    In the ladies’ 50 m freestyle race, Erin         Development Programme focuses its efforts
 Gallagher won silver after finishing her race in    on sports development and the SAFA Transnet
 25.80 seconds.                                      Football School of Excellence. The programme
    The ladies’ 4 x 100 m medley relay team          targets communities around Transnet's key
 of Gallagher, Jamie Reynolds, Nathania van          expansion areas.
 Niekerk and Kaylene Corbett grabbed the               Two multi-purpose sport courts were
 bronze medal.                                       completed in Bankhara Bodulong in the Northern
    Corbett also raced in the 200 m breaststroke     Cape in 2015. Sports apparel and equipment
 where she won her second bronze of the night.       was donated to over 194 schools across the
                                                     country.

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16                    398
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   The annual National Tournament for rural              In the ladies races, Nathania van Niekerk won
 and farm schools was held in October 2015,            a gold medal in the 200 m backstroke. Tayla
 with over 1 551 beneficiaries showcasing their        Lovemore won the 50 m freestyle with a time of
 sporting talent to national talent-scouts.            25.97 seconds.
   During 2015, more than 22 000 learners from           Carissa van Rooyen raced in the 50 m
 across the country put their talent and training to   backstroke competition and clocked 30.41
 the test by competing in inter-house competitions     seconds.
 but only 2 000 of these athletes were selected          In the long distance 800 m freestyle, Michelle
 to compete in the final Transnet Rural and Farm       Weber walked away with the gold medal.
 Schools National Tournament.                            In the multi-disability category, Aaron Putz
                                                       claimed the 50 m breaststroke title in 35.33
 South African Sports Awards                           seconds.
 Track and field sprinter Wayde van Niekerk was          In the S1-S13 events, Hendrik van der Merwe
 named both the 2015 Sport Star and Sportsman          was victorious in 46.85 seconds.
 of the Year at the 10th Annual South African            The staging of this event was made possible
 Sports Awards held in Mangaung, Free State, in        through the support provided by Swimming SA
 November 2015.                                        partners, SRSA, SASCOC, the National Lotteries
   Ashleigh Moolman Pasio was the Sportswoman          Commission, Rand Water and the South African
 of the Year for the second year in a row.             Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
   The Sportswoman with Disability and
 Sportsman with Disability awards went to Ilse         20th Confederation African Athletics
 Hayes and Lucas Sithole respectively. Basketball      Championships
 received the National Federation of the Year title.   The 20th African Championships in Athletics
   The rest of the results included:                   were held in Durban, South Africa, from 22 to 26
 • Sport Administrator of the Year – Virginia          June 2016. It was the second time that Durban
   Mabaso                                              and South Africa hosted this competition.
 • School Team of the Year – St Johns College            South Africa ranked first with 33 medals: 16
   – Junior Men’s Pair                                 gold, nine silver and eight bronze.
 • Developing School Team of the Year –                  Caster Semenya won three gold medals for
   Montshiwa Primary School                            each of her races: 800m, 1500m and 400m
 • Indigenous Games Team of the Year –                 relays.
   KwaZulu-Natal Dibeke Team
 • Recreational Body of the Year – Indigo Skate        Olympic Games Rio 2016
   Camp                                                Team South Africa exceeded their Olympic
 • Photographer of the Year – Veli Nhlapo              medal record at the August 2016 Olympics held
 • Sport Journalist of the Year – Bareng-Batho         in Rio, Brazil. The athletes won 10 medals: two
   Kortjaas                                            gold, six silver and two bronze.
 • Newcomer of the Year – Kagiso Rabada                  Wayde Van Niekerk and Caster Semenya
 • Team of the Year – Springbok Sevens                 were the gold winners. Chad le Clos brought
 • Coach of the Year – Graham Hill                     home two silvers; Luvo Manyonga, Sunette
 • Volunteer of the Year – Nkosinathi Ngubane.         Viljoen, Cameron van der Burgh and the rowing
                                                       team of Shaun Keeling and Lawrence Brittain
 National Aquatic Championships                        each won silver medals for their respective
 Durban's Kings Park Aquatics Centre hosted            disciplines.
 the SA National Aquatic Championships in April          Henri Schoeman and Dylan Sage rounded off
 2016.                                                 the South African medal count with their bronze
 The event concluded with a total of 13 Olympic        medals.
 and 17 Paralympic qualifying times.
   Alani Ferreira competed in the 200 m individual     Athletics
 medley and clocked a new Paralympic African           Henricho Bruintjies set a new national mark in
 Record with a time of 2:50.43.                        the men's 100m at the Resisprint International
   Chad le Clos earned his third Olympic qualifi-      meeting held in Switzerland in July 2015. He
 cation time and the gold medal in the 100 m race.     sprinted 0.01 seconds faster than the previous
   In the non-Olympic 50 m breaststroke final,         South African record of 9.98 held by Simon
 Cameron van der Burgh won after clocking              Magakwe.
 27.17 seconds.

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16                      399
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    Athletics South Africa (ASA) successfully          Masters Marathon Championships which took
 hosted the South African Marathon Champi-             place in May 2016 .
 onships in Mossel Bay in September 2015.
   In March 2016, at the fourth Confederation          Boxing
 African Athletics Cross Country Championships,        The SRSA planned for boxing to be turned into
 South Africa bagged two bronze medals.                a leading sporting code in South Africa by 2017.
    In April 2016, Lupho April took the HAJ              Vision 2017 was a strategy to resuscitate and
 Hannover Marathon in Germany for the third            promote boxing countrywide. The plan would
 time. The South African became the first male         improve the administration and safeguard the
 runner in the history of the event to achieve three   health and general well-being of professional
 victories.                                            boxers. Authorities also pledged to promote,
    At the International Association of Athletics      market and sanction quality boxing events and
 Federations (IAAF) World Under-20 Champi-             tournaments.
 onships held in Poland in July 2016, Team South         Revenues would be generated from
 Africa won three silver medals.                       government grants, bequests, site fees, ticket
    At the end of July, before the 2016 Rio Olympic    sales, registration fees, tournament licensing
 Games, Stephen Mokoka and Irvette van Zyl             fees, penalties, incomes from invested surplus,
 secured the national men's and women's titles         sponsorship and fund-raising, broadcast and
 respectively, at the ASA Half-Marathon Champi-        advertising income.
 onships held in Port Elizabeth.                         A sum of R10 million towards development of
                                                       amateur boxing was set aside for 2015/16. As
 Biking, mountain biking, cycling                      a result, South African National Amateur Boxing
 Cycling South Africa (CSA) hosted the African         received a once-off allocation for being chosen
 Road Championships in Mbombela from 3 to              as the Federation of the Year.
 8 February 2015. A total of 26 African nations          Xolini Ndongeni became the 78th South
 entered for the championships and elite road          African to win a championship belt when he
 cyclists used this opportunity to earn crucial        knocked Jasper Seroka out in the ninth round to
 Olympic qualifying points.                            win the IBO lightweight title in East London on 28
    The    African Road Championships also             November 2015.
 cemented the region's positioning as a key              The list of boxers who have won some or other
 global cycling hub, with Pietermaritzburg being       world title goes back to 1927 when Willie Smith
 established as Africa's Bike City.                    defeated Teddy Baldock for the British version of
    CSA earned the respect of the continental and      the world bantamweight title.
 international governing bodies by hosting nine
 major road, BMX, track and MTB events since           Cricket
 the Worlds View Challenge races in 2008.              The South African cricket team toured India from
    The town of Wartburg, in KwaZulu-Natal,            29 September to 7 December 2015. The tour
 hosted the Confederation of African Cycling           consisted of four Test matches, five One Day
 Road Cycling Championships from 9 to 14               Internationals (ODI) and three Twenty20 Interna-
 February 2015. This was the first time that South     tional (T20I) matches.
 Africa had ever hosted the continental road              This was the first time that a four-match Test
 cycling showcase event.                               series between the two nations had been played
    In February 2016 the SA National Champi-           in India. It was also the first time that the Proteas,
 onships were also held in Wartburg.                   as the South African cricket team is known,
 The SA Track and Para-cycling Championships           played a T20I against India in India. South Africa
 took place Port Elizabeth in March 2016.              won both the ODI and T20I series.
    The SA MTB Marathon Championships (Elite,             Starting with this series, all bilateral tours
 Junior and Youth) were held in Clarens in April       between India and South Africa will be called
 2016. In May, the SA MTB Masters Marathon             the Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series in
 Championships were hosted by Pietermaritzburg         honour of the two veterans. The teams will be
 as were the DHI Championships in July 2016.           playing for the Freedom Trophy.
    Major events that were staged in and around           AB de Villiers was presented with five of the
 Pietermaritzburg, as part of the broader Africa       nine major awards at a Cricket South Africa
 Bike City project, include the Pietermaritzburg       ceremony in June 2015. The skipper was voted
 MTB Festival, KwaZulu-Natal Development               Cricketer of the Year for the second successive
 Series, Spur Schools Series and the SA MTB            season. His other awards included ODI Cricketer

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16                      400
Sport and Recreation

 of the Year, Cricketers` Cricketer of the Year and      In the same month, Altin van der Merwe
 Supporters` Cricketer of the Year.                   finished as a runner-up in the final round of the
   Bizhub Highveld Lions all-rounder, Dwaine          Global Junior Golf Tour’s RB German Junior
 Pretorius, won the Most Valuable Player title for    held at Heidelberg Golf Club.
 his performances in the 2015/16 season.                 Dylan Frittelli finished joint runner-up while
                                                      Sunshine Tour rookie Zander Lombard earned a
 Canoeing, rowing                                     fourth place finish in the Australian PGA Champi-
 Andy Birkett won the 2015 FNB Dusi Canoe             onship in Queensland in December 2015.
 Marathon. He set a new course record. Lance             Golf RSA national squad member Dylan
 Kime finished as runner-up, while Sbonelo            Naidoo became the first amateur and youngest
 Khwela rounded off the podium in third place.        winner of a Sunshine Big Easy Tour event when
 Laura O'Donoghue won the women's race.               he lifted the Big Easy Observatory title with a two
    Canoeing scooped four of the 12 awards            stroke victory at Observatory Golf Club in May
 presented at the KwaZulu-Natal Sports Awards In      2016.
 November 2015.                                          Cole Stevens and Caitlyn Macnab grabbed
    Hank McGregor won Sportsman of the Year;          top-five finishes in the 13-to-14 age group at the
 Tim Cornish was the Best Administrator; Kyeta        Ciputra Enjoy Jakarta World Junior Golf Champi-
 Purchase won Best Junior Sportswoman and             onship, while compatriots Symone Henriques
 Craig Mustard was named the Best Coach.              and Hilmi Mallick both finished just outside the
    Canoeists Bridgitte Hartley and Tim Cornish       top 10 in the 15-to-17 age group at Damai Indah
 were shortlisted as finalists for the 2015 Sports    Golf in Indonesia in May 2016.
 Awards.
    Birkett claimed victory in the South African      Hockey
 Canoe Marathon Championships in Pietermar-           In 2015, the South African men's national field
 itzburg, and achieved second place in the doubles    hockey team was ranked 15th by the Interna-
 together with his racing partner, Greg Louw.         tional Hockey Federation.
    The Natal Canoe Club star won a silver medal         The women's national field hockey team was
 at the season-opening 2015 International Canoe       ranked 11th.
 Federation Canoe Marathon World Champi-                 The South Africa teams finished in their best
 onships held in Hungary in September.                final positions since the inception of the Indoor
    South Africa's rowing team walked away            Hockey World Cup (IHWC) at the Indoor Hockey
 with a bronze medal at the 44th World Rowing         World Cup 2015 in the Leipzig Arena, Germany.
 Championships which were held in France from            The world number 18 Spar women’s team
 30 August to September 2015.                         beat Canada 4 – 2 after the score was 2 – 2
                                                      at half-time and they ended ninth in the IHWC
 Golf                                                 women’s event.
 In June 2015 the South African Golf Heritage            The South African men beat Canada 2 – 1 to
 Trust announced that legendary Grand Slam            end 11th.
 champion Gary Player and LPGA Major winner
 Sally Little had assisted with the opening of the    Ice hockey
 Mercedes-Benz Southern African Golf Hall of          The South Africa men's team is ranked 40th in
 Fame and Heritage Centre at the V&A Waterfront       the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)
 in Cape Town.                                        World Ranking and competes in Division II B.
    Gary Player was named captain of South              The South African women's national ice hockey
 Africa’s first Olympic golf team that competed at    team finished in 35th position at the IIHF's World
 the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. This was the first       Women's Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, in
 Olympic golf competition in 112 years.               April 2016.
    Player, a winner of more than 165 tournaments       The ladies' team is the only national women's
 worldwide, was the only person to complete the       ice hockey team on the African continent.
 career Grand Slam on both the regular and
 senior tours during his 18 Major Championships.      Motorsport
    Gauteng North’s Keegan de Lange made              The motorsport fraternity suffered an immense
 South African golfing history as the first South     loss after the untimely death of one of the
 African junior to contest the Boys Amateur           industry's fastest racers, Gugu Zulu, in July
 Championship final held in North West England        2016.
 in August 2015.                                      He died on Mandela Day while attempting to

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16                     401
Sport and Recreation

 summit Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for         South Africa's Jaco Peyper had the honour of
 charity.                                            refereeing the opening match at Rugby World
    The Guinness Achievement and the Goodyear        Cup.
 Star of Tomorrow awards are just some of the           In February 2016 at the South African Rugby
 accolades that Zulu had under his belt.             Awards, Lood de Jager was named Rugby
    In December 2015, a few months before the        Player of the Year for 2015 at the South African
 tragedy, Zulu was in attendance as Motorsport       Rugby Union Awards held at Vodaworld,
 South Africa honoured its 2015 National             Midrand.
 Champions, National Protea Colour recipients           De Jager became the second youngest winner
 and Special/Lifetime Award recipients.              of the most prestigious award in South African
    The 2015 Official of the Year, the Steve Wicks   rugby since Bryan Habana walked away with it
 Photographer of the Year, and the Environmental     in 2005 at the age of 22.
 Award recipients were also honoured.                   Damian de Allende, Eben Etzebeth, Schalk
    Two Lifetime Awards were presented to Brian      Burger and Jaco Kriel were also nominated.
 Hoskins and Richard Schilling. Other winners in     Kriel walked away with two accolades – the
 respective categories included:                     prestigious Players’ Player of the Year Award,
 • Special Awards – Alan James (AJ) Kernick,         presented by MyPlayers; and the Currie Cup
    Jacques van Wyngaardt, Volkswagen South          Premier Division Player of the Year Award.
    Africa.                                             The Xerox Golden Lions were named the
 • Official/Volunteer of the Year – Freda Stols      Team of the Year, while Johan Ackermann
 • Steve Wicks Photographer of the Year Award        walked away with the Coach of the Year award
    – Trevor Tyler                                   for the second consecutive season.
 • Environmental Award – Megan Els                      Jesse Kriel was named Young Player of the
 SuperGP championship leader Mathew Scholtz          Year, while Warrick Gelant, one of the Junior
 spent the winter break in America competing         Springboks’ stars, walked away with the
 in the MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champi-          Under-20 Player of the Year accolade.
 onship where he scored four consecutive                Werner Kok was named World Rugby’s
 podium finishes.                                    Sevens Player of the Year; Veroeshka Grain
    The selection process for the 2015 Young         earned the Women’s Achiever Award and Rasta
 Driver Excellence Academy involved six              Rasivhenge won the Marriott Referee Award.
 qualifying events across the world. The winners
 of each selection event automatically qualified     Running
 for a place at the Academy. South Africa's          Endurance running is a popular sport in South
 Jordan Pepper, 18, was the Sub-Saharan Africa       Africa and it is widely supported. It is highlighted
 winner.                                             by two annual ultra-marathons: the Comrades
                                                     Marathon and the Two Oceans Marathon.
 Netball                                                Both events are world-renowned and attract
 The South African national netball team,            large numbers of participants from across the
 coached by Norma Plummer and captained              globe.
 by Maryka Holtzhausen, was rated fifth in the          The Comrades Marathon covers almost 90 km
 world by July 2015 according to the International   and takes place between Durban and Pieterma-
 Netball Federation World Rankings.                  ritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal.
    The team, also known as the Spar Proteas,           The Two Oceans Marathon, which takes place
 qualified for the 14th World Cup which was held     in the Western Cape, is divided into two races:
 in August 2015 in Australia.                        The 56 km ultra-marathon and the 21.1 km
    In June 2016, South Africa clinched the          half-marathon.
 SPAR Challenge International Netball Series by         The 2015 Comrades Marathon men's race
 beating Wales 64 – 50. The Baby Proteas also        was won by South African Gift Kelehe, 14 years
 played Wales and won by 88 – 21.                    after his brother Andrew won the race in 2001.
                                                     Six of the top 10 runners in the race were also
 Rugby                                               South African.
 Jean de Villiers was the South African rugby           History was made by Caroline Wöstmann who
 favourite in 2015. The skipper captained the        won both the Two Oceans and the Comrades
 Springboks at the Rugby World Cup in England        Marathon in 2015 – making her the second
 in September. The team made it to the quarter       woman to ever achieve this. The first woman
 finals.                                             was Frith van der Merwe in 1989.

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  In Beijing, in August 2015, South Africa’s             Surfing was officially added to the Sports
 Wayde van Niekerk became the fourth fastest          Programme for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
 man in history to run the 400 m at the IAAF          by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
 World Championships.                                 on 3 August 2016 during the 129th IOC Session
                                                      in Rio de Janeiro.
 Soccer
 Bafana Bafana played friendly matches against        Swimming
 Costa Rica and Honduras when they toured             In August 2015, at the World Deaf Swimming
 Central America in October 2015.                     Championships, which took place in Texas, the
    They beat Costa Rica 1 – 0 at the San Jose        South African swimming team won eight medals:
 National Stadium and drew 1 – 1 in their game        three gold, two silver and three bronze.
 against Honduras at San Pedro Sula’s Olympio            The junior South African swimming team
 Metropolitan Stadium.                                finished in the top spot at the African Junior
    In 2016, this South African national football     Swimming Championships in Egypt in October
 team was ranked in the top 100 by the FIFA           2015. The team won 69 medals: 24 gold, 29
 World Ranking system. The country's national         silver and 16 bronze.
 women's football team, Banyana Banyana, was             In May 2016, the first local swimming-specific
 also in the top 100.                                 TV show – The Swimming Show – was launched
    Banyana Banyana qualified for the 2016 Rio        on SABC 2. The programme highlights all that
 Olympics and made it to the final group stage.       Swimming South Africa has to offer including:
    The South African Under-23 men's soccer           Open Water Swim ming, Diving, Water Polo and
 team also took part in the 2016 Rio Olympics.        Synchronised Swimming.
    Amaglug-glug, as the team is also known,             On 29 June 2016, the AUSC held their
 took the third spot in the Africa Under-23 Cup of    inaugural Regional Awards in Johannesburg,
 Nations tournament which took place in Senegal       South Africa. The purpose of these awards
 from 28 November to 12 December 2015.                was to recognise athletes, coaches and sports
    This tournament was formerly known as             confederations from Southern Africa.
 the Confederation of African Football (CAF)             Swimming South Africa’s National Head
 Under-23 Championship until 6 August 2015            Coach, Graham Hill, received the Coach of the
 when the CAF Executive Committee decided to          Year honour at the ceremony.
 change the name to the Africa Under-23 Cup of
 Nations, similar to the senior players' Africa Cup   Tennis
 of Nations.                                          In September 2015, South Africa's leading tennis
                                                      player, Kevin Anderson, made history when he
 Surfing, surfski, sailing                            kicked Andy Murray out of the Grand Slam in
 South African Surfing Team captain Antony            the fourth round. It was the first time, since the
 Smyth secured a silver medal in September            2010 US Open, that Murray had lost before the
 2015 when he took part in the inaugural Interna-     quarter-finals of a Grand Slam.
 tional Surfing Association (ISA) World Adaptive         This was also the first time that Anderson had
 Surfing Championship in California, USA.             ever advanced to the quarter-finals in a major.
     The South African Junior Surfing Team also          By November 2015, Anderson was ranked
 took to California in October 2015 to join 34        12th, as opposed to 16th in the previous year,
 other teams from different parts of the World        in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)
 in the annual VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing        World Tour rankings. He was also nominated
 Championships. The team came in seventh.             for the ATP World Tour's Fans' Favourite Award
     South African bodyboarding history was made      alongside other tennis legends such as Roger
 by Jared Houston when he won an APB World            Federer and Rafael Nadal.
 Bodyboarding Championship title in November             Also in November 2015, Wheelchair Tennis
 2015. He became the first South African to win the   South Africa (WTSA) scored first place at
 title since Andre Botha won it in 1998 and 1999.     the Jack Cheetham and Letsema Awards in
     In December 2015, Surfski paddlers from          partnership with SASCOC.
 around the country took part in the Pete Marlin          Top-ranked WTSA players: Kgothatso
 Surfski Race held in East London. The race           Montjane, Evans Maripa and quad ace Lucas
 doubled as the South African Surfski Champi-         Sithole jetted off to Australia in January 2016.
 onships and had thousands of competitors and              They were off to compete in the following
 spectators                                           major season opening international tennis

South Africa Yearbook 2015/16                     403
Sport and Recreation

 tournaments: Queensland Open, Sydney Open,               Major sporting activities
 Melbourne Open and Australian Open Grand                 Major sporting codes in South Africa include,
 Slam.                                                    among others: Athletics; Biking; Mountain
   Montjane and Sithole secured spots in the              Biking; Cycling; Boxing; Cricket; Canoeing;
 Melbourne Open Finals.                                   Rowing; Golf; Hockey; Ice Hockey; Motorsport;
   January 2016 also saw South African top                Flying; Netball; Rugby; Running (including South
 junior, player Alwande Skhosana, who was                 Africa’s two world-renowned ultra-marathons –
 ranked third in junior boys wheelchair tennis            the Comrades Marathon in KwaZulu-Natal and
 worldwide, taking part in the 2016 Cruyff                the Two Oceans Marathon in the Western Cape);
 Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Junior Masters in           Soccer; Surfing; Sailing; Swimming; Tennis, and
 France.                                                  Chess.
   South African wheelchair tennis quad player
 Bongani Dlamini clinched the EZMED Arizona
 Open singles title in Tucson in March 2016.

 Chess
 In July 2015, South African chess Interna-
 tional Master and FIDE Trainer, Watu Kobese,
 launched his isiXhosa chess book, titled
 Masidlale Uthimba, which aims help grow and
 popularise the game.
 In December 2015, the City of Cape Town hosted
 both the South African Closed Chess Champi-
 onships. The winners of the tournament were
 Daniel Cawdrey, Denise Frick and Kulusande
 Mafanya.
    The African Youth Chess Championship,
 which earns the categorical winner personal
 rights to the World Youth Chess Championship,
 took place in Zambia in December 2015.
    Represented by 21 players, team South Africa
 finished with 13 medals. Talia Govender (Under-8
 girls' team) and Naseem Essa (Under-12 boys'
 team) both won gold medals at the tournament.

 Speed skating
 In September 2015, South African ice skaters
 Kathryn Winstanley, Michaela du Toit, Matthew
 Samuel and Ancio van Tonder took part in the
 International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand
 Prix Series.
   Two South African skaters participated in the
 2015 Speed Skating World Championships in
 Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, in November. Thabo
 Nylato and Emmanuel Ngobeni competed in the
 junior men category.
   In April 2016, South Africa's junior contestants for
 the ISU World Development Trophy tournament,
 held in Poland, were Donatella Glatter, Sinali
 Sango and Jaydean Brits.
    Glatter came 23rd, Sango seventh and Brits
 got 17th place.
    In May 2016 Sango stepped up his game and
 came back with a bronze from the Eighth Rooster
 Cup held in Paris, France.

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