Hon House Chairperson, Minister and Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, hon members of the committee, of Sascoc and of all national and provincial sport federations, all stakeholders of the sport and recreation sector, and members of media present today, the ANC supports Vote 40 - Sports and Recreation SA.
Hon members, let me at the outset extend congratulatory messages to the South African netball team on maintaining their winning record at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool with a 64-37 victory over Scotland on Monday. [Applause.] We wish them well in their upcoming match against our sister country Uganda today.
They have already beaten so many countries. I can mention Trinidad, Tobago, Fiji, Jamaica and, lastly, Scotland. I am proud because I am
a former netball player, GK number 7. Thank you, department, for supporting Netball South Africa.
We also congratulate Caster on her 200 meter victory in France. We did issue a statement but it was during our recess. And then, thanking the department about challenging ... as Minister has already said ... and also ... I am thanking the South Africans when this challenge was with us as the department ... the South Africans were behind the department and the country at large.
This, hon members, is a powerful indication that women are taking sports in South Africa to a higher level, and that they need our continued support. You strike a woman, you strike a rock!
Just as the Minister already did, we also extend our condolences to the families. We must say that this thing of Marc - which we mentioned yesterday - was unfortunate. He was shot dead on Monday evening. He is one of the few players to have played for both Kaiser Chiefs and Orland Pirates. He also won the 1994 League title, the 1995 African Championships Cup, the 1986 BP Top 8 and the 1996 African Super Cup. How come criminals are doing this to us today? It is sad, and we hope that the law will take its course.
Former President Mandela once reflected on the fact that sport has the power to overcome old divisions and create a bond of common aspirations. This he said within the understanding that one of the cruellest legacies of apartheid was its distortion of sport and recreation in our society. The enforced segregation of sport and recreation and the gross neglect in providing facilities for the majority of South Africa's people, denied millions of people and in particular our youth the right to a normal and a healthy life orientation.
In those days, we wanted this to be looked at, so we are thankful that a democratic government took over in. That is why the ANC in its policy positions has always been resolute that it is important that sporting and recreational facilities be made available to all South African communities. The ANC's policy position has always been that participation in sporting and recreational activities should reflect the demographics of the country.
Hon members, sport and recreation are integral parts of the reconstruction and development of a healthier society. Sport and recreation should cut across all developmental programmes and be accessible to and affordable for all South Africans, including those
living in rural areas and townships, those who are the disabled, the young and the elderly.
It is therefore important that sport and recreation continue to contribute in a meaningful and developmental manner to the building of a better South Africa. We will continue to ensure that sport and recreation continue to promote the values of nonracialism and nonsexism. We must ensure that gender parity in sport is promoted at all levels, including that of national teams.
Green jackets must be awarded for all sporting codes. This will allow us to standardise school sport across the country in both poor and affluent areas. Sport and physical education must be integral to the school curriculum from Grades R to 12. Sport infrastructure must be extended to rural and township schools and must form part of all new school buildings.
The department should ... While I was thinking that ... I wanted to say that it must liaise with traditional authorities. I remember that the Minister told us that they had already visited traditional leaders. So, keep on doing that. You must go and visit those traditional authorities. You told us who of those you visited. Keep up the good work, because, without this movement, without those
amakhosi, without the churches, the ANC as a ruling party would not be here. We do honour them.
Our task is to ensure that we transform society and unite the country through the creation of an active and a winning nation. This we do by ensuring that sport and recreation contributes to social cohesion and safe communities and is regarded as an apex priority, as mentioned in the state of the nation address by President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa.
The department received a voted allocation of R1,15 billion for 2019-20. This represents an increase of 0,56% in real terms considering inflation from the 2018-19 financial year's adjusted appropriation of R1,09 billion. The projected expenditure per Programme reflects an overall budget increase of less than R63,1 million.
There was a significant increase in budget allocation for Programme 1 - Administration, Programme 3 - Wining Nation, and Programme 4 - Sport Support. The budget increase is below the projected inflation and not enough budget was allocated accordingly.
That is the problem that South Africa has. Since we came, Minister
... even in the last Parliament ... Fifth Parliament ... we have been trying as this ... and we are trying even now as a new Parliament that, you can't not to prioritise to have enough budget for sport because we said who is looking after the drugs, even in school. How are we going not to have such a scourge of drugs if we don't have facilities if you don't have enough money to assist, especially the rural areas ... about every facilities.
I am standing here knowing that, whilst we are saying that ... I was not aware that there is an increment on the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, MIG. That MIG, Minister ... If Salga is here, please, you must do correct things. You must assist the department to have infrastructure on those areas. In rural areas there are no facilities. In rural areas there is nothing at all. But we have municipalities that have this Municipal Infrastructure Grant.
But, I am worried. Minister and hon members, at some point during the past Parliament, we once invited all sister departments to come and explain. We had a big fight over this question of the MIG. You can't have the treasurer not doing anything with the MIG because it is taken to do other important things of municipalities, of which water is very important. Water is life, but you can have drinking
water and what else if you are not going to go to the grounds and do whatever you want ... and then next you'll go to shebeens and you'll get drunk ... will go and get drugs and you kill players like this ... that now, we are seeing this ... This is very serious. We called everyone but, seemingly, Salga ... this is now the time for you to channel this MIG so that the little money that this department has must be assisted by the budget that we are getting from this department in order that we must see improvement.
Having engaged with the department's annual performance plan, we therefore recommend that the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture should, within the current year, advocate "Recreation" equally as it does "Sport" and brief the committee on the progress made regarding the implementation of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Recreation.
We also recommend that the Minister continues to lobby for more funding to construct and revamp sport infrastructure in previously disadvantaged communities and in rural areas.
We do ... and when we are coming as a new committee, we must recommend Super Sport, loveLife and also the SA Rugby Union, Saru, to assist the committee. As a former committee chairperson, I
declare that each and everyone must knock at their doors and ask them to assist us. We know it is their money and their budgets. But it is about the kids. They have done that. We were all over ... Without budget, as a committee, as a chairperson ... but through themselves they assisted us, hon members. We are still appealing that, when we are coming to our committee ... Also, I will declare that we do not want your brown envelopes; we want to assist us with everything that we are asking from you ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]