Hon Chairperson, let me take this opportunity to thank you.
Ke tseye nako eno gape ke dumedise motlotlegi Tona ya lefapha, Rre Fikile Mbalula, ke dumedise gape le Motlatsatona Rre Gert Oosthuisen, ke dumedise batho botlhe ba ba eteletsweng pele ke Rre Moemi, ba ba dirang kwa tlase ga lefapha la gagwe. Ke tseye gape nako eno ke dumedise MEC wa rona yo o tswang ko North West, motlotlegi Modise, le Ditona tsotlhe tse di leng teng fano. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)
[Let me also take this opportunity to greet the hon Minister of the department, Mr Fikile Mbalula, the Deputy Minister Mr Gert Oosthuisen, and everyone who is under the leadership of Mr Moemi in his department. Let me also take the opportunity to greet our MEC from North West, hon Modise, and all Ministers present.]
Hon Minister and Deputy Minister, we want to first acknowledge the inputs you are making in sport. Let me be brave enough to indicate to the House that your approach in transforming sport is directive and has vision, and I have the following reasons to substantiate what I am saying.
Firstly, South Africa is currently rated as the number one mega destination in the whole world - I thought that hon members would applaud! [Applause.] Maybe I should repeat it: South Africa is rated as the number one mega destination in the whole world for sport. [Applause.]
Secondly, you, hon Minister, find it necessary to recognise excellent athletes through your sports awards; thirdly, we have in the country, for the first time, national Olympic school sport; fourthly, the hon Minister is to establish the Transformation Commission; and, fifthly, the Minister indicated recently that he went to Khayelitsha and presented sports equipment to the disadvantaged community there. We commend him for that. [Applause.] Modulasetilo gompieno re tlile go bua ka mebala ya metshameko le tsotlhe tseo di tlhokegang mo metshamekong. Ke batla go bua ke penotse sehuba, ke totobetse fa re se na mafaratlhatlha mo metshamekong, ga re kitla re tsamaya re bona batshameki ba ba nang le tlhwatlhwa mo Aforika Borwa, sekai; ga re kitla re tsamaya re nna le bo Lionel Messi le bo David Beckham mo Aforika Borwa. Re tshwanetse go tlhokomela gore ditlabakelo tsotlhe tse re nang le tsone di re kgontsha gore ko bofelong re nne le batshameki ba ba ntseng jaaka bao.
Modulasetilo, ntetle tlhe Mong wa me gore ke go bontshe gore ke raya jang. David Beckham fa a ne a na le dingwaga di le robongwe o ne a na le ditlhako tsa bolo e ka nna dipara tse tlhano, o ne a na le dibolo, kgwele ya maoto di ka nna 24, o ne a na le mokatisi ka nako eo yo e neng e le rragwe. Jaanong ka yone nako ya dingwaga tsa gagwe di le robongwe, mo Aforika Borwa fa ke dira sekai, basimane ba dingwaga tseo tsa gagwe ba ne ba tshameka kgwele ya dinao, e ba itiretseng. Batho ba tla gakologelwa gore mo Aferika- Borwa basimanyana ba ba nnye, ba na le kgwele ya tenese e ba tshamekang ka yona. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, today I am going to talk about race in sport and everything that is needed in sport. I would like to be frank and tell you that we can never have great soccer players in South Africa if we don't have great sport infrastructure. For example, we will never have our own Lionel Messi and David Beckham in South Africa. We should take good care of all our resources so that we can have those kinds of players in the end.
Chairperson, please allow me to elaborate on what I said. When David Beckham was nine years old he had about five pairs of soccer boots, he had about 24 soccer balls and his father was his coach at that time. His nine- year-old counterpart in South Africa had to play with a self-made soccer ball. We will all remember that boys in South Africa play with a tennis ball.]
However, in most cases when you come up to those boys, you will see that the ball that they are playing with only resembles a ball. It is not actually a ball, but a tennis ball covered with plastic, and it resembles a ball. Each one of those nine-year-old boys has taken great pains to contribute a plastic bag in order to make a ball.
Now, remember, I said that by then David Beckham had 24 balls. David Beckham had 24 soccer balls! [Laughter.] [Applause.] David Beckham had 24 soccer balls and six pairs of soccer boots!