07 Aug 2013

 A forum for sport ministers in Africa has resolved to dissolve the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa (SCSA) and replace it with a new body.

SCSA was established in 1966 as an organ of the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) with a specific mandate of fostering development of African sport. OAU at the time wanted to use sport in the struggle against colonialism and apartheid.

However, the Conference of Ministers of Sport (CAMS) in Africa, during its 5th-session last week, decided to dissolve SCSA because it had grown insensitive to changes in sports development and governance taking place throughout the world. Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Shaw Kgathi, who attended the July 25-26 meeting in Ivory Coast, told journalists on Tuesday that a new architecture of African sport would be formed to replace SCSA.

Kgathi said since SCSA was established primarily to advance achievement of the political objectives of the OAU, when it became apparent that the post-colonial challenges required a different organisation to meet the needs of African countries, SCSA became less relevant. “The majority of member states also started questioning the value accruing from SCSA and others even started defaulting on their annual subscriptions. There was therefore a need for appropriate steps to revitalise sport in the African continent,” Kgathi said.

Kgathi explained that a transitional committee would be set up to oversee the transition from SCSA to a new body. Under the reconstruction process, the continent would be re-organised from the old seven sport zones to five. The five zones would be in line with the AU geographic regions contained in the new Sport Architecture.

“All sport development regions should organise regional games to help them prepare athletes for the African games and other international events,” added Kgathi. ENDS