A total of 293 succesful athletes from various sporting codes have received their share of R150m in Covid-19 relief funding, according to sport, arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa.
Mthethwa said on Monday that a total of 473 applications were received from 25 sporting federations including boxing, canoeing, football, golf, surfing, fencing, gymnastics, athletics, and triathlon.
The R150m relief fund was launched by Mthethwa on March 25 to help artists, athletes, technical personnel and what he described as the “core ecosystem of the sector”, who have been negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The other part of the R150m relief fund was open to proposals for livestreaming the work of creatives and athletes, particularly, intergenerational co-operation between younger artists and “legends”, the minister said.
The arts and culture sector is important to the SA economy as it contributes an estimated R90bn per year to GDP.
On the arts and culture portfolio, Mthethwa said more than 1,000 applications were adjudicated, with 232 recommendations for funding, 603 nonrecommendations, and 203 applications being referred to the department.
“We are concerned that the largest number of those not recommended are artists who are seemingly in greater need of relief,” said Mthethwa.
Their applications were not recommended because of some missing documents and no proof of cancellation of events or contract documents, among other reasons
We were especially concerned after the adjudication committee advised us of some of their reasons, many of them legitimate reasons such as lack of resources. However, it is important to note that the applicants who were not recommended have the option to address the appeals committee,” the minister said.
