JAMAICA and South Africa signed a Programme of Cooperation Agreement in several areas of sports at ROK Hotel in Kingston on Tuesday.

A seven-member South African delegation, headed by Deputy Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nocawe Noncedo Mafu, met with Jamaica’s Sport Minister Olivia Grange and the head of her agencies on a fact-finding mission as to why Jamaica does so well on the global stage.

“The programme of cooperation will provide opportunities for the development of frameworks to explore data collection, joint collaboration in research and joint courses, and sharing of curriculum of postgraduate students,” Grange explained.

“This will give them a better understanding of Jamaica’s development in sports throughout the educational system in athletics, football, rugby, netball, rowing and cricket,” she noted.

South Africa has expressed an interest in collaboration with various sporting federations and were given several PowerPoint displays of the various agencies, including the Ministry of Sport, Institute of Sports, Sports Development Foundation, and the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO).

They also met with the Jamaica Administrative Athletics Association (JAAA), and the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA). The delegation will also visit G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport.

The South Africans, their country a population of 65 million, travelling thousands of miles to a small nation of three million to learn about its method for sporting success speaks to the high regard Jamaica is held in the global community.

“South Africa and Jamaica are great sporting nations with a long history of good relations, and through the Programme of Cooperation we will be of great assistance to each other. For our part, we are keen to learn best practices from Jamaica on every aspect of sports, starting with the nurturing of our child athletes,” said Mafu.

Over the next few days the delegation will also be meeting with various stakeholders within the sports landscape, with Minister of Education Fayval Williams and her team, as well as with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith.

The Programme of Cooperation takes effect today, November 21, 2023 and ends on December 31, 2025. It will involve training and competition among athletes and teams in various sporting codes, with particular focus on track and field; training and recruitment of coaches; and exchange of visits by sports leaders, officials and personnel.