Sport science students will wait at least another year for help from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC).
The department that runs the country’s sport has no bursaries for the people who study it.
This year, DSAC is paying for 140 university students to study languages.
It also funds heritage bursaries. There is not a single sport science bursary.
Almost a year ago, DSAC promised Parliament it would look into changing that. On Friday, it admitted nothing had been done.
“As far as sports bursaries are concerned, it’s something the department will look into in next year’s budget,” said Teboho Thebehae, DSAC’s acting deputy director-general for sport.
He told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture that this year’s money had gone elsewhere.
“In this year’s budget, we have already placed a number of sports science students as interns in the department, and that is where the budget has been allocated.”
The committee was hearing DSAC’s first-quarter performance report on Friday, 25 September.
ANC MP Matsholo Mmolotsane was the one who had raised the students’ case.
“Last time, I raised the issue of bursaries. What is happening to the students who are studying sports science?” she asked.
“Mr Thebehae said they would go back, look into it, and report back to the portfolio committee. To this day, we have not received any report from the department.
“It’s almost a year now. We are still waiting for that report,” said Mmolotsane.
She said this was not what DSAC had promised.
” Let us not be taken for a ride. The last time I raised the issue of bursaries for sports science students, Mr Thebehae said they would look into it and possibly consider it for this year. That is not what he has just told us. I am not going to accept that answer.
“He said they would look into sports bursaries, not the placement of students who have already studied sports science,” she continued.
Placing graduates as interns is not the same as paying for students to study.
Interns have already finished their degrees but a bursary helps a student get one.
Mmolotsane said the department keeps changing its story.
“This is not how we are supposed to be treated. You give us one answer, and when we come back to ask for progress, you give us a different one,” she said.
She said MPs are forced to chase officials.
“It is so disturbing that every now and then we have to write emails to the department to remind them of things they were supposed to respond to. There are more than five departmental officials in this meeting. Why can’t they take notes, so that when the meeting starts they know exactly what they need to respond to?”
Thebehae tried again but this time he blamed the budget calendar.
“The government’s budget process dictates when money can be allocated. When this question was last asked, that process was concluding, so the available budget went to placing qualified students. We are now looking at bursaries for the next financial year,” Thebehae said.
Committee chairperson Joe McGluwa did not accept that.
“The department gave an undertaking at the time. It was minuted, it was noted, and this response does not match what was promised,” he said.
He turned to the chief financial officer, Israel Mokgwamme. The CFO said he would have to go looking for money.
“We will try to find the money, Chair, so that we can report back properly. I will give you an update at the next meeting. I will have to re-prioritise, to see if we can squeeze in some bursaries, even if it is not a big number,” Mokgwamme said.
Mmolotsane made sure he heard her.
“I will definitely remind you when the time comes,” she said.
It is not the first time MPs have raised it.
When the committee considered DSAC’s 2026/27 Annual Performance Plan in May, members asked why the department funds bursaries for arts and language students but not for sport.