Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula says quotas aimed at transforming sport are not working.

"We need to review the whole system of quotas, to look at whether they are working for us," Mbalula said, addressing the National Press Club in Sandton.

Fresh in his new portfolio, Mbalula outlined his plan for the sport and recreation ministry in his upcoming term.

This included looking at transformation "anew".

"Quotas are not working...we don't simply want the deracialisation of sport, but we want a competitive edge," he said.

He cited an example in netball where quotas were implemented on a regional level and then the national team was selected on merit.

Mbalula said lessons could be drawn from this.

The Springbok symbol as well as other sporting symbols would remain in place while the King Protea, adopted as the national emblem, would also appear on national team jerseys, said Deputy Sport Minister Gert Oosthuizen who flanked Mbalula.

Mbalula also wanted sporting to be allocated more funds.

Revitalising sport in schools was also high on his agenda.

"We will bring back the vibrant culture of school tournaments...we will create lighthouses in selected provinces to serve as hubs of our community.

"Our intention is also to encourage affluent schools engaged in elite and high performance sport to join hands with less privileged schools and share their expertise and skills with them."

Among Mbalula's priorities was also the future usage and sustainability of the Fifa World Cup 2010 stadia.

There were fears that many of the billion rand stadia would be become white elephants and cost municipalities millions to maintain.

Mbalula said the department was looking at various models which it would announce after presenting the report of the Fifa 2010 unit to the Cabinet.

He was adamant that his role as the sports minister, which he considers a serious one, would not hamper his duties as the ANC head of campaign.

"There's no clash there, that work is going to continue."

Mbalula said in the past the ministry has not focused on the recreation side of its mandate.

He would be working hard to take this aspect forward because "idle minds breed evil ideas".

Part of this would be reviving the idea of summer camps for scholars.