I can't change them, they have been placed there. It is in the Western Cape where this is happening. [Laughter.] You must get your house in order, not me. I can sort out ANC matters, but not these people.
Let me come to the speech that I drafted; I first wanted to deal with these peripheral issues. Not too long ago, the Reconstruction and Development Programme recognised sport as one of the cruellest legacies of apartheid. [Interjections.] In 2010, at the time when the ANC took over the Oudtshoorn Municipality, which is my constituency, the DA was trying to squander R8 million on installing lights in a stadium that already had lights. [Interjections.]
When the ANC took over, it redirected that R8 million and built a pavilion in Bridgeton, which is a coloured community.
The municipality received R4 million from the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant and part of it was used to complete the Bridgeton project and the rest went to Bongolethu, which is its neighbour. As Africans, we share.
They need a further R3 million to complete the stadium at Bongolethu. Minister, they have also indicated to me that they have invited you to go and open it, but I don't know about this.
It is not surprising that what has brought us here today is not just the issue of the limited budget that Sport and Recreation has to work with, but also the question of transformation, which the ANC government has found is happening too slowly. I know after this speech many people are not going to like me, but I was born like that on 16 December! [Laughter.]
Transformation and funding are interrelated, despite what some people want the public to think. Sport cannot transform itself. That's why federations play a big role in implementing government policies. Transformation policies are aimed at creating a competitive and winning sports industry in the country.
Hon Jola, I'm sure that nobody needs to be reminded of the potential role of sport in nation-building. Indeed, we often lament the lost chances of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. We didn't really use that opportunity. That was our chance to get the country together. We were getting everyone together during that time, but after that things fell apart again. We must make sure that we make use of these opportunities.
The test rugby match on 16 June, about 10 years ago, between the Springboks and the French national team at Ellis Park, constituted part of the Youth Day celebrations and this, in fact, was clear testimony that we had made some progress - and I underline "some progress" - towards unity and indeed, transformation. The South African Football Association, Safa, also hosted a match in Durban about 10 years ago, on 17 June, as part of the Youth Day celebrations. The players visited Umlazi as part of the event. The commitment shown by this federation brought hope.
Sithetha ngethemba apha. Andazi ke Jola nokuba bebebanjwe nguwe kuba umkhala wawutsalwa nguwe kwiYouth League ngelo xesha. [We are talking about hope here. I don't know, Jola, whether they were held up by you because you were the leader of the Youth League then.]
So you said that if you don't go there, there will be a toyi-toyi by the Youth League. [Laughter.]
An issue that came out of this good work is that of match-fixing in football. The Minister met with Safa to get a better understanding of the problem instead of just reading about it in the newspapers. The Minister then decided to appoint a judicial commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of the matter, but Safa wants an independent thing that will just fihlafihla lapha [camouflage the situation].
The problem with this is that you won't get to the bottom of the problem. Why should they be investigated selectively? And I have asked them this question.
The committee supports you in that endeavour, Minister. We must get to the bottom of that, because I don't want people to say that this committee is hard on cricket and rugby, but it puts on kid gloves when it comes to soccer.
Resistance to change among selected federations has entrenched a culture of poor governance, misappropriation of funds and no growth in the quality of the athletes they produce. We should relentlessly challenge any sport federation that undermines the efforts in this regard. You will recall that at one stage sport was the leading protagonist for change in this country.
Mamela, mamela, mamela! Uyabona apha, sizizinja ezingenamazinyo, nangona ukhona umgaqo osikhuselayo, ukuze sikwazi ukulola amazinyo, silume. Thina siyamfimfitha kuba sifakele amazinyo emboleko. Sintlantlatha ithambo kodwa ngekhe sifike kumongo osethanjeni. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Listen, listen, listen! You have to acknowledge that we are powerless, even though we have a constitution that protects us so that we should be able to redress and render justice. Ours is trial and error because everything is new to us. It doesn't matter how hard we try, we will never achieve what is expected of us.]
These administrations don't want to see good governance and proper administration because this would ensure that government exposes their activities.
I'm coming to the issue of excellence which the hon member, the pensioner to be, has spoken about. [Laughter.]
The administrators and the convenors are failing our black athletes. I want to site an example. Both Thami Tsolekile and A B de Villiers were selected together and went on the tour to India. When they came back, Thami Tsolekile was dropped like a hot potato and De Villiers was given the opportunities to be where he is today. [Interjections.]
Can you see the problem? Our kids are given one chance, and no second chance. There are people like Loots Bosman - an opening batsman - who, when he opens, scores six runs. But we don't see them in the T20. What's wrong with them?
We have been told that after Boucher got injured this new boy, Thami, was called up to tour Australia. But he didn't play a single match. Now Boucher has been tasked to groom Quinton de Kock, but Thami Tsolekile has proven himself with bat and bowl. Go to the franchise where he has been placed now. In the T20 he made no less than 40 runs.
These are the things our sporting codes must get right if excellence is to be evaluated on the same level, hon pensioner Donald. [Laughter.]