Cultural Affairs and Sport
With regard to mass participation, opportunity and access, development and growth (MOD) centres in Mitchells Plain:
(1) Whether the MOD centres are currently operational; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) what is the number of centres that are operational;
When the national lockdown commenced on 26 March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and as announced by the President of South Africa, all afterschool activities – therefore MOD Programme activities included – were suspended in line with the Covid-19 regulations which were published. Furthermore, in adherence to the regulations stipulated by the various Covid-19 lockdown levels, no MOD Programme activities took place up until the prohibition on the participation and hosting of recreational, sport, arts and culture activities was lifted.
The below table is a description of the number of unique learners who attended the MOD Programme during 2019 and 2020.
District | School Name | Learners 2019 | Learners 2020 |
Metro South | Cedar HS | 460 | 90 |
Metro South | Wavecrest PS | 1311 | 106 |
Metro South | Oval North HS | 721 | 114 |
Metro South | Mitchell Heights PS | 969 | 211 |
Metro South | Tafelsig HS | 489 | 243 |
Metro South | Highlands PS | 1373 | 474 |
Metro South | Cornflower PS | 1556 | 682 |
- whether the centres have been able to retain the services of the coaching staff during the lockdown period; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) which facilities have been able to continue to pay their coaching staff?
Response:
All MOD Programme staff were retained during the lockdown period and all staff, including staff based at the facilities (MOD Centres) were paid throughout the lockdown period and are still being paid. During the initial lockdown period which ended in June 2020, staff were part of humanitarian relief efforts, where they were involved in:
- the preparation and distribution of food parcels within their communities;
- assisting with the screening of people collecting food and;
- ensuring that social distancing is adhered to while collecting food.
Although schools could resume their academic programmes in July 2020, the country was still under strict lockdown regulations which prohibited the participation and hosting of recreation, sport, arts and culture activities. During this period, agreement was reached for the coaches to assist with the:
- feeding of learners and ensuring that social distancing is adhered to during the feeding time;
- screening of learners, staff and visitors at the school;
- coordinating of the movement of learners between classes and during interval, ensuring that learners adhere to social distancing; and
- supporting of the non-teaching staff e.g. ensuring that all classes are cleaned and sanitised daily, by monitoring (not doing) the cleaning.
