Hon House Chairperson, I started my speech on the debate on arts and culture yesterday by saying that there is no need
to remind the Minister and his department of just how an important role the department has to play towards nation-building and social cohesion. This is indeed true, for not only arts and culture but also for sports and recreation. While it is the responsibility of the department to promote multilingualism, sport is a universal language that we all can speak. For instance, the hon Paulsen and I may not agree on many things but I hope we are on the same page in our support of Bafana Bafana or the Springboks.
I sincerely hope that we are also on the same page on the importance of the promotion of recreational activities among all communities towards promoting a healthy, active, lifestyle to curb the incidences of lifestyle diseases.
Afrikaans:
Suid-Afrika is 'n sportnasie, soos die agb Minister ges, met 'n ellelange rekord van uitstekende sportprestasies en atlete. Die departement se verskeie programme en die implementering van die begroting moet toesien tot 'n volhoubare prestasierekord, deur die bevordering van sport vanaf skole tot op professionele vlak.
Daar is egter verskeie struikelblokke wat deur die ANC-regering self geskep is, wat in die pad van 'n voortgesette prestasierekord en behoorlike nasiebou en sosiale kohesie staan:
English:
The National Development Plan's transformation vision for sports in 2030 is that participation in each sporting code begins to approximate the demographics of the country. This statement in itself is fatally flawed. Sport is competitive; it is the nature of any game or competition. Therefore, you cannot force participation to equate to some cosmetic quota. Participation must be based on merit or there would be no game or competition. Hon Minister, we will not soar if we do not promote proper sports development and field sports teams that are picked on merit. If the ANC government is serious about promoting and developing sport for the greater good of the South African community, it should rather focus on proper sports development from grassroots levels in schools. Cosmetic transformation of professional sports teams by forcing them to adhere to a certain quota will not succeed in the long run.
Athletes must be able to compete on merit by receiving proper coaching with proper facilities from the lowest level in order to compete at provincial and national levels. The state of recreational
facilities in our country is an enormous problem. The National Development Plan envisages that the government ensures adequate facilities for the majority of the population to play sport and the adequate maintenance of such. Let me tell you, the ANC has failed dismally in attaining these goals. [Interjections.] The sports facilities in local communities are in a deplorable state and I am sure no one can argue with that fact. Facilities under the management of municipalities are even worse off. In the Free State province, from Edenburg to Sasolburg, and I am sure everywhere else there is not a single public swimming pool in a working condition. These facilities, once the pride of small towns across the country, have become dumping sites. The same goes for stadiums and other sporting facilities. There are many communities that desperately want to contribute to the local sporting facilities like that of Wesselsbron in the Free State where the once-proud Frikkie Cronj Stadium is in ruins yet the municipality refuses help from the community to maintain it because it has absolutely no political will to do so. The allocation of R620 million towards the mass participation and sport development grant to the nine provinces must be carefully monitored with the proper checks and balances to ensure the funds indeed go towards furthering the development of sport and recreation in the provinces. For too long, transfers to provinces
and federations have not been used for the intended purposes. There must be severe consequences for the misappropriation of these funds.
Afrikaans:
Die regering moet ophou inmeng in sport. Skep 'n omgewing waar sportsoorte ontwikkel word en atlete kan deelneem, en gelyke geleenthede tot deelname het. Die ANC-regering se volgehoue inmenging in die kies van sportspanne bedreig ons eens trotse sportnasie.
Ten slotte, dra ek, namens die VF Plus, ons medelye oor aan die naasbestaandes van James Small. Hy was 'n ware Suid-Afrikaanse sportheld wat gesorg het vir baie opwinding op en van die veld af.
Ek wens ook vir Erin, Karla, Bongiwe en die res van die Suid- Afrikaanse netbalspan sterkte toe met die Netbal-wreldbekerreeks. Hulle maak ons trots. Ek dank u.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF SPORTS, ARTS AND CULTURE (Ms N N Mafu): Hon
House Chair, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Hon Nkosinathi Mthethwa and other Ministers present. The MECs, of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, that are here. Chair of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation, Ms Beauty Dlulane and other hon
members. The DGs of both departments, Mr Alec Moemi and Vusi Mkhize, and other officials of both departments. Stakeholders and partners of sport and recreation. Ladies and gentlemen.
IsiXhosa:
Molweni.
English:
The National Sport and Recreation Plan, otherwise called as the NSRP, acknowledges that worldwide sport strategies are focused on increasing levels of participation in sport and recreation, as well as achieving success at an international level. As the NSRP, reminds us: No country can expect to achieve and sustain success at the elite level, without a strong participation base in the community, because that is the beginning for every champion. It is therefore, not by accident that the greater part of our budget is allocated to the Active Nation Programme. The Programme is involved with school sport and community sport. The school sport amount excludes the over R200 million that is transferred to the provinces from the Mass Participation and Sport Development Grant. As you all know, 64,5% of the budget of the department goes to this programme.
The, I Choose 2B Active campaign, is a 365 days campaign intended to encourage South Africans to start, pursue and commit to the life- long wellness of a physically active lifestyle. It is a movement calling on all South Africans; yes, all of you, to actually start to be active citizens. To step up and take charge of your health and wellness through regular participation in physical activities, as well as dare others to join you in embodying such a physically active lifestyle. It is for this reason that we wish to thank South Africans, who have taken up our challenge to choose to be active. For they have decisively declared: "I Choose to change my lifestyle and I choose you to join me in this journey." Annually we have seen such committed South Africans from all walks of life join us in all provinces, to participate in the I Choose 2B Active campaign. The pillar of events intended to remind all of us about the benefits of a physically active lifestyle which also takes place in provinces. The Campaign is brought to life through critical events, such as: The Move for Health Day; the Big Walk; National Recreation Day; and the I Choose 2 B Active boot camp.
The 2019 Move for Health Day took place on the 10th of May, in Reiger Park, Ekurhuleni, in Gauteng. The National Recreation Day will take place on the first day of October which will be the fourth and we invite all of you. The Big Walk will take place on the first
Sunday of October which will be the sixth. Both the Recreation Day and the Big Walk will also be held in all provinces on the same day as their national versions. The inaugural I Choose 2B Active boot camp will take place in the fourth week of November this year. The Big Walk is aligned with The Association for International Sport for All, TAFISA, World Walking Day, which encourages and lobbies countries to walk by creating advocacy and awareness during October. The number of participants has increased exponentially over the years and the event has become increasingly popular, with 37 303 eager walkers at the 2018 event. We hope for more for 2019.
Cabinet declared an annual National Recreation Day for the first Friday of October each year. The 2019 National Recreation Day campaign will be expanded to corporate South Africa, tertiary institutions, and communities at large, in order for a broader scope of South African citizens to embrace and participate in physical activities for fun and leisure. 4211 participants were mobilised at the 2018 national event. We hope to double this number in 2019. The department will continue to assist provincial departments by deploying managers to oversee youth camps and provide logistical support to ensure that they are successful. An estimated 1800 participants from various backgrounds attend these camps, where learners are taught leadership skills, life skills, and the
importance of national pride. The department plans to spend
R3 million on the camps, while each province allocates an additional R3 million each from the mass participation and Sport Development Grant. Linked to this, is the Trailblazer Movement, which is a platform for all youth camp participants to develop themselves and their communities further. The mission is to develop a movement driven by youth pioneers dedicated to learn, lead and serve, while making an impact on the lives of others in their pursuit of nation building.
The aim of the Rural Sport Development Programme is to revive sport and to unearth talent in the rural areas. The programme was conceptualised out of a realisation that the most disadvantaged communities, particularly in the rural areas and in areas under traditional leadership, still require a structured focused sport development programme. Even though many communities in rural areas do host tournaments, they do not feed into or link with any structured sport development programme. Therefore, there is neither growth nor an exit platform for the athletes who may demonstrate potential and talent. This programme seeks to close this gap and 1100 participants are expected at the 2019 events.
The Indigenous Games Festival will once again be hosted in September 2019, catering for participants in dibeke; diketo; drie-stokkies; kgati,iintonga; kho-kho; ncuva; morabaraba and jukskei. This event forms part of the heritage celebrations in South Africa and elements of a carnival, arts, crafts, an African Food Village, and other related traditional activities have been incorporated. These festivities have increased patronage of the games. Now that we have the nine codes codified, we are scoping, Skop die Bal, to see if it cannot be added as the 10th code. Since some of these codes are played internationally under different names, there is a need to standardise rules and scoring methodologies at international level, to allow competition with other countries. Currently, our Indigenous Games teams are only able to showcase our games at TAFISA games without competing. The Golden Games will continue in October 2019, in partnership with the Department of Social Development. It will remain an active recreation festival for older persons and, directly supports the notion that people can significantly improve the quality of their later years by staying active and being fully engaged in life.
School sport remains a core deliverable for the department in 2019/20 and the bulk allocation of our budget to this objective supports our strategic intention. The Department remains committed
to maximising access to sport, recreation and physical activity in every school in South Africa. It is unapologetic about rolling out functional sport in schools. This programme will remain the flagship programme in the department with the focus being devoted to implementing a Long Term Participant Development model. Of the projected 50 000 learners who are set to participate in school sport competitions at the district level in for this financial year, 5000 are expected to progress to participate at the Autumn; Winter and Summer championships, and as school sport participants at the 2019 Indigenous Games Festival.
An estimated 2500 schools, hubs and clubs are expected to receive equipment and attire in each year over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period to facilitate sustainable participation at a cost of R45 million. For the success of our school sport programme, we continue to regulate our relationship with the Department of Basic Education through the Memorandum of Understanding. This Memorandum of Understanding forms a foundation for the successful transformation of sport in the country and brings in, sustainability. Its proper coordination will assist to also channel all our intervention in focused areas and integrate efforts that will develop a clear talent pipeline of development in sport. The National School Sport Winter Championships took place in Durban this
year at the University of KwaZulu-Natal from 30 June 2019 to 5 July 2019. These championships featured 7 sporting codes for, Winter Football, Volleyball, Tennis, Hockey, Rugby, Chess and Netball. All nine provinces participated with the total number of participants being 3825. During the games, talent scouts were in attendance to identify talented learners with the view to nurture them further though the various academies. We wish to congratulate Gauteng Province for being the overall winners at the 2019 School Sport Winter Games. [Applause].
We are also cognisant of the fact that greater effort is required to develop rural and disadvantaged provinces like the Northern Cape. We appreciate the efforts to better resource the Northern Cape through the conditional grant and applaud the gesture from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in sacrificing a portion of their grant to increase the grant allocation for Northern Cape. This has made a vast contribution to the development of sport and recreation in that province. The 30th edition of the Summer Universiade which was the 11th hosted in Italy, took place from 03 July 2019 to 14 July 2019, in the City of Naples and its surrounding regions of Campania. 218 countries took part in these games. The South African delegation consisted of 178 participants in six codes of sport, namely, Football, Athletics, Swimming, Archery, Rugby and Tennis.
University Sport South Africa set a target to bring home 8 medals. Team South Africa brought home 18 medals in total, 6 gold, 4 silver 10 bronze and being ranked 10 out of 57 countries. [Applause]. In this process we also saw new records being set. We wish to congratulate University Sport South Africa for putting together a strong team of athletes who have done us proud. Gratitude goes to Ms Nomsa Mahlangu and Mr Mike Ralethe, who continued to represent us well in the international setting. We thank Lotto for making sure actually did a good kit for the team.
Considering the dire need for social unification, the Department as an outcome 14 signatory, will continue to utilise sport as a vehicle for social cohesion. The UNITE Campaign will be delivered as one of the projects of the new Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture, during the 2019/20 financial year, with the Nelson Mandela Sport and Culture Day being the core tenant of this campaign. Hon Members, the hon President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa said in the state of the nation address:
In an economy that is not growing, at a time when public finances are limited, we will not be able to do everything at one time.
However, there are things that we have control on, that we can use to good effect. We are among other things, able to plan in line with the allocated budget, and we have the capacity to make policy and develop or review legislation, in order to grow the sector. I do want to le the House know that we have been taken to court by Solidarity, challenging us on our transformation charter. We have won the case, but they have taken us to the Constitutional Court, because they do not believe in transformation. We will fight, we are not scared.
In conclusion, I hope you share my enthusiasm as I have noted the numerous indicators that the former Departments of Sport and Recreation and Arts and Culture can now jointly deliver moving forward as the newly constituted national Department for Sports, Arts and Culture. Intensive work streams have been established and are working diligently such that we anticipate delivering a robust joint budget vote next year, sharing with you the plans we have to deliver sport, arts and culture to our nation. The Minister and I are inheriting a department that has a track record of good governance, having achieved the clean audit opinions over the years. [Applause]. As a political leader of the department, this gives me confidence that we are surrounded by committed officials, who respect the controls and work processes that have been established
towards proper functioning of the department, and the sustainability of its support to all South Africans through the various sport delivery agents that we work with.
Let me also thank the Minister the DGs, and the officials, particularly Mr Alec Moemi, who has ensured that we settle well in the new portfolio with ease. It is only when we can work together, that we can achieve more. Our people know that the socially cohesive winning nation we aspire to, is not just a dream; but a reality that while may be far, is reachable. Let's walk there together, hand in- hand. All can be done. I choose to be active. How About You? Thank you very much. [Applause]