Chairperson, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MECs, delegates of this House, sportspeople, ladies and gentlemen, I am humbled by having this opportunity to take part in this debate on sport.
Sport is the most wonderful nation-building activity and has shown us what democracy is. It is true that sport can unite our nation. It has been extremely significant recently, during the Soccer World Cup. It was surprising to find that our people did not see skin colour during that time. Everybody was green and gold in colour. This created a very good vibe among South Africans, showing that we can live together in this country without any racial discrimination. Our churches could not achieve this in our country, but sport had a significant impact.
Sport brought about change in our people's lives. The ANC-led government took its democracy to people who never knew that they were also oppressed by the system of apartheid. This government is the only one that brought back dignity to marginalised African people. If it were not for the ANC and its vision of uniting this nation, we would never have achieved this goal. In the Freedom Charter of 1955 we clearly said that we wanted a nonracial society. We further said that South Africa belonged to all of us. The declaration of the Polokwane conference stated that we are also united around a common objective: the creation of a national democratic society.
In his January 8 Statement, his Excellency President Jacob Zuma said that the ANC was the most consistent entity for transformation in our country. The development programmes of this department should speak to that, because it is this department that brought our nation together in 2010. People on the ground, especially those who were formerly disadvantaged, must see the programmes of this department as being uniting. We can transform our youth, whether black or white or pink - because I have never seen people with a white skin colour, so I assume it is pink - to stay together and to accept each other as human beings, regardless of background. This department must compile a database of emerging and outgoing sportspeople. We must have a track record of each person. We must be able to know what is happening in the lives of our heroes and heroines, even if they have hung up their boots.
The sports academies in this country are known to only a few people and are not accessible to our rural school teachers and learners. They need to be marketed more effectively, so that they are well known. There must also be a clear policy to guide access to these academies. Rural areas are situated at the back of our provinces. The people there must know about these academies, so that they can make them their own, with clear guidelines regarding access.
We are indeed blessed in this department to have a Minister like hon Mbalula, with Deputy Minister Gert Oosthuizen, who brought a change in the running of the department. Working together shows the whole country that we can make it, irrespective of our skin colour. The commitment shown has made a particular individual, who thought the department was good for retirement, think twice.
In our rural areas, interest in sport has declined and needs to be revived by introducing games for every season. After all, we are now able to go and watch games on our town grounds, formerly in white areas. We now have a sense of what a field should look like. We became embarrassed to play on our own fields, because they were never properly resourced. We were given open fields on which to bruise and hurt ourselves and never become champions.
We rose beyond doubt and despite our unpleasant situation, heroes like Makhaya Ntini have emerged. Minister, out of the dusty rural areas of Rayi in King William's Town, a star was born. We have George Ntshiliza, who won the Two Oceans Marathon. We have Noni and Joyi, who are world boxing champions from the Eastern Cape.
Sport develops a person's attitude towards life. So, we need to fight crime by developing sportspeople. This department needs to build relations with other government departments and partner with them to build this nation.
I want to draw the attention of the Council to a small, former missionary town called Mamre, on the northern outskirts of the City of Cape Town. It was the only part of the city to be declared rural, and the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Minister Gugile Nkwinti, has decided to declare it a rural node. Minister Mbalula's department is involved as part of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme in what will ultimately become a rugby academy, the best of its kind in that part of the Western Cape. I understand that this academy will concentrate primarily on the development of rugby among school learners.
Congratulations, Minister, but also a warning. We need to ensure that we find and develop the link between school sports and our national teams. We have thousands of children practising various sports codes, but where are they when we look at national team selection?
The 2007 Polokwane resolution of the ANC calls for the sports section of the municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, to be incorporated into the Department of Sport and Recreation. This needs to happen as a matter of urgency. Our municipalities either do not have the capacity, understanding or will to utilise these grants for the development of local sports facilities. There are way too many areas where children have to practise their sport in the street or at an inadequate facility. Our municipalities are doing absolutely nothing about that.
If MIGs are to remain with the municipality, the department needs to ensure that clear and proper guidelines are set, and it should monitor the implementation of the Comprehensive Sports Development Programme in municipalities that have been awarded a MIG for sports development.
In towns where there are indoor sport centres, there should also be guidance on how to make them accessible. Programmes drawn up nationally must link up with those of provinces and local areas. Our country has many remote rural areas. We must know what interests the people in those areas have. I am saying this because the Eastern Cape, in particular, is divided into municipalities, like any other province. Certain areas have an interest in playing rugby, but because this type of sport is thought to be only for pink people, it is not accessible in our areas. School sport is key and every school should have at least four codes of sport that must be made compulsory.
We can make Physical Education compulsory as a subject, but will that enable us to identify skills? This should not be seen only as a subject for relaxation, but for identifying skills. School leagues are a good idea. Do we have teachers who can coach the learners?
In his state of the nation address, the President declared 2011 the year of job creation. The programmes of this department must speak to the creation of more jobs. His call was also made to the private sector institutions, but as we know, these are run by mostly racists and whenever he makes the call for job creation, they make sure they retrench more than those employed.
If we can make this department work as per the goals, mission statement and vision of the ANC, we will have fewer sick people and minimise chronic diseases, as this department promotes a healthy lifestyle.
The Eastern Cape salutes the Magnificent Friday programme, as we will have less alcohol consumption and drug abuse in our communities every Friday of the year, because it will promote better morals. Our youth will take responsibility for their own lives. But it should not only be a national programme, it has to devolve to provincial, regional and local level. And visits to localities should be a permanent thing, so that the Minister can celebrate a day with local people, not necessarily with celebrities.
We need to ensure that sports stars who retire from their respective codes are not lost to our nation. We should find ways to utilise their expertise and give them an opportunity to transfer those skills to the new generation through sports clinics and academies.
I am worried because the hon Meyer has left us. He showed us a CD of the Western Cape fields. I would be ashamed to be him, boasting about sports fields that were built 342 years ago. In our provinces we have sports fields built in these 17 years of democracy because nobody in those 342 years took cognisance of us.
Allow me to commend our Bafana Bafana captain, Steven Pienaar, who decided to risk his entire career to play for our national team against Egypt on Sunday. Pienaar was advised by his overseas team, Tottenham Hotspur, to undergo urgent surgery to eliminate a groin injury. As the operation would have rendered him out of action for the African Cup of Nations, Afcon, he decided to postpone this, risking another injury which could see him permanently out of the game. Although we remain cautious, we have to commend him for his patriotism and his love for soccer and his country.
Minister and Deputy Minister, I am also immensely pleased to have the opportunity to ask the House to commend the International Rugby Board, IRB, rugby world champions, our own Springboks, who are going to defend the world title in just over three months. We know they are going to make us proud and tomorrow, when we start the 100-day countdown to the start of the tournament, our blood will all be green.