Sascoc CEO Nozipho Jafta reflects on 12 months in offfice

Jafta, a former South African Airways official, said she and her team made a lot of progress and are happy with the direction the organization is taking a year into her stint.

"My responsibility at Sascoc is to stabilize the organization. I arrived here in January when there was low staff morale and mismanagement of funds," said Jafta. 

"I am here to rebuild Sascoc's reputation and bring more money and partners to Sascoc. I am happy to say that a lot of companies are starting to talk to Sascoc. 

"I am also here to deliver a team to the 2024 Olympic Games to represent South Africa with pride. I am happy with what I did in twelve months and looking forward to the New Year."

Sascoc is set for a name change to Sport SA, with Jafta at the forefront of these and other changes as she looks to leave a lasting legacy.

“We will change the name to Sport SA by April 2023. We signed off the papers with the International Olympic Committee. Next year it will be a big year for Sascoc,” she confirmed.

The Port-Elizabeth-born administrator is also looking forward to the re-launch of the Operation Excellence Programme (Opex), which could be launched during the new financial year beginning March 2023 at an estimated cost of around R100-million.

"Of the [South African] athletes shining right now, most will not be around in 2028. We are looking at tier two and three, focussing on transformation and development," Jafta highlighted. 

"I can confirm that we will launch the programme in March. We are using January and February to identify the right athletes to be on the programme.

“I am here to prioritize the athletes and do not mind spending money on them. We want to see a lot of progress in the New Year."

Opex is a support programme that allocates funding to help athletes who have the potential to qualify and return medals at the highest level.

Jafta also vowed that Sascoc would pay for several athletes to have pre-Olympic Games training in Europe next year as they build up towards Paris 2024.

By Charles Baloyi