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Cape Town - It will cost R65m to host this year's SA Sports Awards evening.
According to Die Burger's website, Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula confirmed the amount in parliament this week.
"The department of sport will pay R21m and the other R44m will be covered by sponsors," said Mbalula.
The R44m includes the worth of TV broadcast rights for the occasion.
This comes despite a few of the country's sports institutions suffering financially. Swimming SA, for instance, said last month it was unable to cover the travel expenses of SA's swimmers to the FINA World Championships in Barcelona in July.
SASCOC was forced to ensure the costs of at least the top swim stars would be covered. However, lesser known athletes might need to contribute some of the costs if they hope to take part.
Paena Galane, a spokesperson for the department of sport, said the financial woes of Swimming SA is not the SA Sports Awards' problem.
"More than 30 million people watch the event on the SABC and SuperSport. Their (Swimming SA) problem is due to a lack of sponsorship," said Galane.
The DA however feels it is a waste of tax payers' money. Winston Rabotapi, a DA spokesperson on sport, said the department has a history of hosting extravagant gala-evenings.
"In 2011 the department used more than 60% of the money it received from the national lottery to fund the sports awards evening, which amounted to R46m."
R27m was spent to host last year's event at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Chad le Clos was named Sports Star of the Year in 2012, after becoming an overnight sensation when he beat Michael Phelps by a whisker for the gold medal in the 200m butterfly at the 2012 London Olympics. He also went on to win silver in the 100m butterfly behind Phelps.
According to Die Burger's website, Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula confirmed the amount in parliament this week.
"The department of sport will pay R21m and the other R44m will be covered by sponsors," said Mbalula.
The R44m includes the worth of TV broadcast rights for the occasion.
This comes despite a few of the country's sports institutions suffering financially. Swimming SA, for instance, said last month it was unable to cover the travel expenses of SA's swimmers to the FINA World Championships in Barcelona in July.
SASCOC was forced to ensure the costs of at least the top swim stars would be covered. However, lesser known athletes might need to contribute some of the costs if they hope to take part.
Paena Galane, a spokesperson for the department of sport, said the financial woes of Swimming SA is not the SA Sports Awards' problem.
"More than 30 million people watch the event on the SABC and SuperSport. Their (Swimming SA) problem is due to a lack of sponsorship," said Galane.
The DA however feels it is a waste of tax payers' money. Winston Rabotapi, a DA spokesperson on sport, said the department has a history of hosting extravagant gala-evenings.
"In 2011 the department used more than 60% of the money it received from the national lottery to fund the sports awards evening, which amounted to R46m."
R27m was spent to host last year's event at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Chad le Clos was named Sports Star of the Year in 2012, after becoming an overnight sensation when he beat Michael Phelps by a whisker for the gold medal in the 200m butterfly at the 2012 London Olympics. He also went on to win silver in the 100m butterfly behind Phelps.
