Athletes' incentives under review
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday March 20, 2020 10:39
The minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC), Tumiso Rakgare told the Committee of Supply this week that Parliament is reviewing the scheme, in line with the changing sport environment.
“The policy is currently under review to address emerging issues and make it more relevant to modern sport. So far the government has disbursed P7,312,623.76 as appearance fees and performance incentives to our athletes this financial year,” he said. MYSC permanent secretary, Kago Ramokate said the incentive has not been increased. “It would be adjusted when the policy has been reviewed,” he told Mmegi Sport. Meanwhile, Rakgare told the committee that the allocated ministry’s recurrent budget for the current financial year is P947,235,130 out of which P782,456,312 had been expended this month.
The development budget for MYSC stands at P43 million out of which P7 million has been already used.
Rakgare said the construction of the 10 community sport fields in Kasane, Rakops, Tutume, Tonota, Mmadinare, Bobonong, Goodhope, Kanye, Moshupa and Tsabong is ongoing and expected to be completed in the next financial year.
“Construction has started in Moshupa, Bobonong and Mmadinare. The rest have faced delays due to capacity constraints, protracted consultations and land issues,” he said. Sponsorship for sports remains a headache and even reached the committee of supply. Rakgare said in the recent past, sport has experienced significant decline in corporate sponsorship, which has had dire consequences on sport development and competitiveness.
“Some of our sport codes do not run leagues and tournaments due to lack of resources. Botswana sport has grown in leaps and bounds and needs investment not donations,” he said.