South Africa has enjoyed steady improvement on the Olympic stage in recent years, winning six medals of which three were gold, at London 2012, in comparison with a solitary silver four years earlier in Beijing.

It is hoped structural improvements can bring about further growth involving elite athletes, as well as improvements at a structural and grass-root level. 

Speaking after a Presidents' Council meeting in Johannesburg last Saturday (June 28), which was attended by nine Provincial Confederations and 53 National Federations as well as the SASCOC Board, Sam offered congratulations for the high performances from many South African athletes, but also highlighted the need for further improvement. 

"Over the recent period, we have taken a lot of decisions in the Presidents' Council and implemented some of them successfully but others have not been achieved," he said.

School sport, funding, relationships with local government and high performance were also cited as areas where focus is required. 

It is hoped that South Africa's highest performing sports, such as swimming where Chad Le Clos won one of two gold medals at London 2012, will work alongside less successful ones ©Getty Images




Sam also reiterated that SASCOC's core business was to make sure sport was represented on the ground.

In this vein, it was agreed the South Africa Local Government Association would work with the National Olympic Committee so that municipalities could provide adequate facilities to enhance sport development.

He explained how "National Federation representatives should go to all their districts and find out if there is sport development and, if not, then we can take the issues forward".