SASCOC identifies 100 athletes to benefit from the OPEX Program

OPEX is an initiative aimed at providing backing to athletes with the potential to secure qualifications and win medals at major international competitions.

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Nozipho Jafta, the Chief Executive Officer of SASCOC, shared with SABC Sport that the complete roster of athletes participating in the program will be disclosed in the upcoming week.

SASCOC clinched a R66 million four-year deal with Bidvest to sponsor the initiative a few months ago.

"So, we are very excited about the OPEX program. We've identified a 100 athletes both for the Olympics and Paralympics. We've started actually supporting them financially. We've put aside about R18 million for OPEX program and we will be announcing the names in the next seven days but we are very excited that we have those 100 athletes that are on our program," Jafta said.

"It is divided into three. Your elite, which is your top athletes and then we've got your developmental level that we are preparing for LA and you've got your grassroots which is your young ones and those are from your talent identification program. 

When we go to the grassroots, we go to the rural areas to find them. They are part of the OPEX program, so OPEX is already in motion."

SASCOC had initially planned to transition to its new name, Sport SA, by May, but the renaming process is experiencing delays beyond their initial expectations. Jafta informed the national broadcaster that the necessary paperwork has been finalized, and they intend to adopt the new name in the near future.

"It is still SASCOC. Remember the name change was about adding Paralympics on the name. So, we've now registered the name, and everything is in place. So, we should be okay with the name change. It's not really going to be a big one."