ISSUED BY:             National Lotteries Board

CONTACT:               Sershan Naidoo

TEL:                          012-394 3468

FAX:                         012-394 4468

DATE:                       Tuesday, July 27, 2004

TEAM SOUTH AFRICA GETS A R28,3 MILLION BOOST FROM LOTTO

A major but virtually unknown sponsor of Team South Africa is the South African lottery-playing public.  Thanks to the R28,3 million cash injection from the Sport and Recreation Category of the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), South African Athletes can fight for honour at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

However, the National Lotteries Board is extremely concerned that due acknowledgement of contributions from the people of South Africa through the National Lottery is non-existent.

The National Olympic Committee of South Africa (NOCSA) has been afforded a lifeline to the tune of R10 million by the Sport and Recreation Distributing Agency of the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund that will make it possible for South Africa to be represented at the Athens Games, over and above the R5 million that was granted for team preparation. 

Further, Team South Africa has also received an additional R13,3 million through the following federations:

1. Athletics South Africa: R3,300,000.00
2. Badminton South Africa: R431,760.00
3. Canoeing South Africa: R663,800.00
4. Council of Archery Sports: R214,115.00
5. Disability Sport South Africa: R3,000,000.00
6. Rowing South Africa: R840,000.00
7. South African Amateur Fencing Association: R242,000.00
8. South African Cycling Federation: R560,355.00
9. South African Gymnastics Federation: R349,600
10. South African Hockey Association: R1,243,000.00
11. South African Sailing: R358,000.00
12. South African Wrestling Federation: R201,040.00
13. Swimming South Africa: R1,091,300.00
14. Triathlon South Africa: R197,040.00
15. Volleyball South Africa: R604,640.00

If it were not for the funding from the NLDTF, South Africa would most likely have had minimal representation in Athens.  This funding is only made possible by the many participants in the National Lottery, whose weekly contributions make it possible to support the thousands of beneficiaries each year.

The National Lotteries Board challenges NOCSA, the Sports Federations and all participants in the Athens Games to publicly acknowledge the support of the National Lottery.

Since inception, and up to 31 March 2004, over R2,2 billion that was raised through the National Lottery was allocated to over 5 000 beneficiaries. 

In the last financial year alone, R1,26 billion was allocated to 1 802 beneficiary organisations.

This amount can be broken up into the different categories as follows:

Arts, Culture & National Heritage: 267 allocations amounting to R375,4m

Charities: 1 144 allocations amounting to R613,1m

Sport & Recreation: 390 allocations amounting to R252,4m

Miscellaneous Purposes: 1 allocation amounting to R17,4m

---Ends---