Programme Director
C.E.O of SASCOC
President of Basketball South Africa
Deputy President of Basketball South Africa
And all Representatives of NBA
Ladies and gentlemen of the media

In my Budget Vote Speech in 2013, I gave an undertaking to the people of South Africa that it was the intention of my department to revive Basketball in the country as a sport of choice amongst young people.

At the time I announced the formation of the Basketball National League (BNL) by Basketball South Africa with the full backing of the Ministry of Sport and Recreation SA and the National Basketball Association (NBA). We have done that and the BNL enters its third season in May this year.

We are now ready to take Basketball to the next level to create opportunities for our top players to be exposed to international competition. With this in mind, Basketball SA has successfully negotiated with the City of Johannesburg to turn the Wembley Indoor Sports Complex in Springfield, Johannesburg into a dedicated basketball facility. Wembley will in future become the National Home of Basketball in the country!

This in itself is a major step in building basketball into one of the most popular sports amongst both men and women in the country. I want to single out the City of Johannesburg in particular for taking such a bold step in joining Basketball. Wembley is set to become the first dedicated Basketball facility in the country. Nowhere else in the country does the sport have access to a playing arena which is not shared with the range of other activities.

Johannesburg has set the pace for other major municipalities to follow. We want to thank them for that. As such, we, Basketball SA and Sport and Recreation SA, have decided to host the inaugural Four Nations Challenge right here in Johannesburg at the Home of Basketball – Wembley.

The Four Nations Challenge brings the senior men’s teams of Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya and South Africa together in what is envisaged to become an annual event. The Four Nations Challenge gets underway at Wembley from Thursday 19th March to Sunday 22nd March when the final will be contested by the top two teams after a series of matches over the four-day period. Each country will play each other with two matches being played every day.

The opening matches on Thursday 19th March will be preceded by an Opening Ceremony starting at 18h00. South Africa meets Mozambique in the main match of the evening while Nigeria opposes Kenya in the opening match. On Friday 20th March, South Africa plays Nigeria while Kenya meets Mozambique. The first match starts at 18h00.

On Saturday 21st March, Mozambique plays Nigeria in the feature match while South Africa plays Kenya in the earlier match.

Admission to the venue is free for all spectators and the matches will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

These developments are important in our plans to give effect to the Objectives of the Sports Plan of Government which was adopted by Cabinet in 2012. In our Vision for 2030, we envisage having 80 percent of our priority Sports Codes (with Basketball being one of them) being in the top world rankings. We also want to see South Africa as a destination of choice for major sports events and sports tourism. Events such as the Four Nations Challenge are amongst the building blocks in achieving these objectives.

The partnership that we are forging with the NBA is already starting to show results. Basketball Without Borders will be back in SA this year and this will be followed by an NBA All Stars Invitational match. The NBA has also joined forces with Basketball SA in rolling out mini basketball in 40 primary schools as a pilot programme this year and will also join the BNL in a pre-season competition.

These are small steps to take us where we want to be and we call on the public and the media to join hands with us as we build Basketball into the great sport that it can become in the country.