Lebone Rodah Mosima

Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Matome Chiloane used the Gauteng Sport Indaba in Boksburg this week to call for wider school sport participation, stronger talent pathways and more investment in township facilities.

Speaking at the indaba, Chiloane said Gauteng needed a more integrated approach to sport from school level upward.

“This Indaba anchors a clear vision, which is a seamless, integrated, and lifelong pathway for every citizen,” Chiloane said.

“This vision requires data-driven decision-making, strong governance, inclusive facility planning, and a united focus on literacy, equity, and building a business case for funding sports and recreation in the province.”

He said too many pupils were falling out of organised sport because schools remained heavily concentrated around a narrow set of codes.

“We might be losing some of our kids because we expect them to perform in football or netball as a form of recreation. So if they are not in the school team for either sport, they are out, and in this way we miss the talent,” he said.

The call aligns with national school sport resolutions adopted in 2023, which urged closer implementation between the sport and basic education departments, stronger monitoring, educator-led school sport, formal training programmes, and the introduction of Physical Education as a stand-alone subject.

Chiloane said access to sport also had to be widened in poorer communities.

“Our former Model-C schools have facilities that just need upgrading — but in our townships, that’s where investments must be focused, so we can get these learners involved,” he stated.

Gauteng supported 208 school leagues with 13,617 participants in the 2024/25 financial year and provided equipment and attire to 409 non-fee-paying schools, with soccer, netball, volleyball, and chess emerging as the most popular school league codes.

Chiloane said earlier talent identification could help Gauteng produce more top-level athletes over time.

“If we start now, in schools, identifying their talent, it gives us around 10 years to prepare for those Olympics,” he said.

“We still have time. So let’s be the first in Gauteng to get ready on the streets and set the scene for the Olympics to come.”

He also said sport spending was a broader social and economic investment, a theme echoed in official messaging around the indaba, which brought together government, federations and private-sector stakeholders to discuss the future of Gauteng’s sport system.

“Let this Indaba be a place where we build a house that is truly the foundation of champions and an economic hub for sports and recreation in the country and the province — a place for every citizen to enjoy their rights, participate, belong, excel, and thrive from cradle to the grave.”

The indaba came just over a week after Chiloane launched Vorentoe Sports School of Specialisation in Johannesburg, which the provincial government said was Gauteng’s 38th School of Specialisation.

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