SRSA - Department of Sport and Recreation | Directorate: Communication and Information Services

2010_Commonwealth_Games

5th INAS-FID World Football Championships

UPCOMING SRSA EVENTS

06 October 2010

2010 Indigenous Games

01 July 2011

2011 IOC Session

03 October 2010

2010_Commonwealth_Games

25 October 2010

2010 National Golden Games

14 November 2010

Sport Heroes Walk Against HIV/AIDS

Home | Directorates | Chief Directorate: Corporate Services | Directorate: Communication and Information Services

Directorate: Communication and Information Services

Advertising:
Advertorials were placed in national and regional/community newspapers and in magazines. The advertorials were on the Indigenous Games; the Heroes Walk against HIV and Aids; and on congratulating the Proteas on their success in the One Day International series held in Australia. The Amajitas (national under-23 soccer team) were also congratulated by means of an advertorial for their excellent performance during the Youth Champions held in Rwanda and for their qualifi cation for the World Championships to be held later in 2009.

Branding and exhibitions:
Exhibitions and branding were done at national and international events, which included the Beijing Olympics and the Soccer Expo (Soccerex). Ekhaya hospitality centre: In August 2008, the Department hosted a hospitality centre named “Ekhaya”, at the Westin Chaoyang Hotel, in Beijing, China at a cost of approximately R16,5 million. The objective was to assist in promoting South Africa as a country and a worthy tourism destination; as well as a country ready to host the next big event after the Beijing Olympics – the 2010 FIFA World CupTM. It was also intended to serve as a ‘home away from home’ for South African athletes, their families and friends, attending the Olympics. The centre further aimed to showcase the success of Team SA at the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

While the department had hosted Ekhaya over the years, the 2008 Ekhaya was intended to form part of the year-long “Ten Year Celebration of SA-China Diplomatic Relations” campaign, under the leadership of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the SA Embassy in China.

Although the centre achieved its objectives to some extent, it experienced some challenges that affected its overall impact. Some of the challenges were planning rather than implementation related and included the following:

Leaking of sensitive project information to the media which was later used to report negatively about the centre.
Poor fl ow of information between the SA Embassy in Beijing and the department.
Inability to fi ll all the hotel rooms reserved. This was in part due to a withdrawal by other government departments who were expected
to utilize the hotel rooms.
Strict security arrangements for President George Bush who stayed in the same hotel and which made it difficult for non-hotel guests
to attend Ekhaya events. This forced the department to change the dates for some of the events, including the 2010 dinner.

Your Sport magazine:
Four issues of the department’s external magazine were issued. The magazine contained updated and informative overviews of SRSA’s projects/programmes as well as articles on interesting sport topics and sports events that took place in South Africa. Educational articles covered by the magazine were developmental in nature, in that they also identifi ed the source and how one can contact such a source. The department distributed nearly 15 000 copies of the magazine during each quarter. Many new subscribers were registered resulting in a rapidly growing subscriber database. The magazine is also accessible on the SRSA website, www.srsa.gov.za.

Media liaison:
Media liaison support services were provided mainly in support of departmental programmes and events. The events included national and international games; sport conferences/indabas; an awards ceremony; and handing over of sport and recreation equipment.

Research:
Research to develop a model to predict the socio-economic impact of major sport events was in the fi nal stages of completion at the end of the year under reporting. Once fi nalised the model will enable the sports fraternity to assess upfront the possible impact of the sports event they plan to host and also to validate the impact after the event has taken place.

Databases and library service:
An events/contacts database was continuously updated and is available on the SRSA website. Subscriptions to publications were maintained and a number of new publications were acquired.

Sport management toolkit CD:
This CD was redeveloped and contains an electronic document library, research reports, video clips and national anthems. Copies are available from the department’s information centre.

Internal communication programme:
Various internal events were organized in line with national commemorative days. The unit worked closely with the Employee Wellness Unit in involving staff on issues of national importance.