House Chairperson, esteemed members of sports organisations, the president and the leadership of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, Sascoc, the president and the leadership of the SA Football Association, Safa, as well as the president and the leadership of the SA Rugby Union, Saru, the CEO of the Local Organising Committee, LOC, our veteran sports administrators led by the venerable Jannie Momberg, hon members, comrades, compatriots and friends, we are left with 49 days before we kick off the first ball to launch the Fifa World Cup tournament for 2010, where South Africa will be earning its first points against Mexico. [Applause.]
In his letter to the Fifa president in 2003, the then President Mbeki emphasised that the foundation of South Africa's bid to host the World Cup was a resolve to ensure that the 21st century unfolds as a century of growth and development in Africa. He said:
This is an African journey of hope - hope that, in time, we will arrive at a future when our continent will be free of wars, refugees and displaced people, free of tyranny, of racial, ethnic and religious divisions and conflicts, of hunger and the accumulated weight of centuries of the denial of our human dignity.
The same sentiments were definitely in the minds of soccer officials like the late Sticks Morewa when they mooted the idea of South Africa as the host of a Fifa World Cup. These leaders will be the first to confess that they were inspired by the release of Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela from prison and the subsequent historic democratic elections of 1994.
The announcement in Zurich on 15 May 2004 that South Africa would host the 2010 Fifa World Cup was met with great excitement. South Africa went wild with excitement. Africa, and most countries of the world, flooded us with letters of congratulations, and our embassies were compelled to organise celebrations even without having budgeted for them. They had to contend with gatecrashers as a result of those unplanned celebrations.
Since that day, South Africans have proudly risen to the task of preparing, organising and hosting a memorable World Cup. We needed to make sure that such a World Cup would also be a project of the nation that would contribute to nation-building, unity and patriotism. We have succeeded. South Africa, Africa and many parts of the world burst into joyous celebration. But that joy was soon dimmed by questions of our readiness, transport capabilities, questions of suitable accommodation and, of course, crime and security questions. These were all very legitimate concerns, but they were raised with gusto and venom and distortions that were clearly born of Afro-pessimism. We confounded all pessimists and "plan B" harbingers were silenced.
The resilience and patriotism of South Africans have been exceptional. Our people never took their collective eye off the ball. Our hopes, and those of the continent, continue until today to be our lodestone, our source of courage and inspiration.
We have come to within 49 days of the tournament - the biggest in the world. Congratulations to all of us. We must remain united in our resolution to deliver a world-class event, a unique and memorable World Cup that will position us as significant global players in all fields of human endeavour.
Recently, the murder of the Afrikaner-weerstandsbeweging, AWB, leader was enough for a British tabloid, the Daily Star, to boldly declare that World Cup fans faced "a bloodbath" in our country. Despite this and many other attempts in the world to cast doubt, Fifa, our continent and the friends we do have elsewhere in the world have rallied behind us because they know that with their support and our unity, we can and will deliver the best football fiesta ever.
The Fifa World Cup presents us with an ideal forum to extend an unforgettable South African welcome to the world. It offers us a golden opportunity to collaborate with all stakeholders in a dynamic partnership based on integrity and excellence. It is a strong catalyst towards the building of national and continental pride and unity. It is already boosting tourism in our own economy. The World Cup must make South Africa a favourable destination to visit and for conducting business. It must reduce Afro-pessimism.
In June last year, we hosted a very successful Confederations Cup. After the game in which Italy was beaten by Egypt, one of the tabloids in Britain announced: "Africa defeats the world." They did not say, "Egypt defeats Italy." In the antidoping world, we have a strong partnership with people who are very experienced in the art of testing those who try to enhance their performance. We are confident that South Africa will be found ready.
At the beginning of this year the President of South Africa, President Jacob Zuma, said:
We have been working hard towards bringing this event to Africa. We have built new and revitalised our existing stadia and we have upgraded our transport and accommodation facilities. We have demonstrated our pedigree by successfully hosting the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup and the final draw for 2010 ...
Here the President opens a window for all to see the huge investment our government made in infrastructure development and in the construction of the image of South Africa and Africa as legitimate members of the family of nations. For once, we should not be shy to give ourselves a big pat on the back - all of us. [Applause.]
The World Cup has opened many people's eyes to other countries and their cultures. For our youth, it is inculcating a sense of national pride and exposes them to other cultures, teaching them to respect diversity. This is good for good citizenship. It is good for the building of a nondiscriminatory and nonxenophobic South Africa. This is good for internationalism and a peaceful world.
Our department is doing an audit of the socioeconomic benefits that have accrued to our people from hosting this great event. We will also do an assessment of the spiritual and political legacies of the World Cup - matters regarding values, cohesion and so on. We have started the process of auditing these legacies of the World Cup. This work should be finished by the end of August 2010. In the words of our President, "We urge all South Africans to support our national team."
And, of course, let us support the other five African teams. Let us all support our continent. Let us also support sport. Yes, let us also support the teams from other parts of the world. Football and sport are more than games. Sport is a great catalyst for national unity and cohesion.
Our department is tasked with co-ordination and we have made sure that the ministerial committee and Cabinet get regular reports from the Technical Co- ordinating Committee, both on what the departments and spheres of government are doing and on what the LOC is taking decisions on. The Technical Co-ordinating Committee made sure that all spheres of government delivered on their guarantees - all of them. I know there were difficulties in some areas to agree on the matrix of roles and responsibilities, but all that is water under the bridge. It has also acted as our cutting edge in negotiations with the LOC, Fifa and other players. We salute the co- operation that we received from everybody. Nothing, absolutely nothing, came easy.
At this juncture, we can proudly announce that all stadia have been completed. As we speak, all stadia are in the clear. [Applause.] All these world-class facilities are being handed over to the municipalities as we speak. Those that have not been handed over yet will be handed over long before the cut-off date of 15 days before the tournament. This has confounded all our critics.
During this period, our people had access to opportunity. Professional architects, engineers, semi-skilled and nonskilled workers could acquire additional skills and their skills could rub off on other people. These skills will not be lost because delivering infrastructure to our country is an ongoing government project.
Allow me to talk about the world and the African agenda. South Africa has just concluded an unprecedented 10-year stint as board and executive committee member of the World Antidoping Committee. This has never been achieved by any other country in the world. It is the first time, from 1999 until 2010, that South Africa has represented Africa on this forum. We can also report that we have now handed over that responsibility to Tunisia. Tunisia has been given that responsibility for one year.
We have also relinquished our chairpersonship of the Zone VI Supreme Council for Sport in Africa, SCSA, because Swaziland is the next host of the under-20 games in 2011. Swaziland's minister is now the new chairperson. Although we continue to serve on the troika, fact is that this morning I received a letter from the Secretary-General of the SCSA, pleading with us to continue some of those tasks - the task of integrating the SCSA into the African Union, AU, and the task of finalising the dispute that is taking place among our netball-playing countries. The International Federation of Netball Associations, IFNA, is convening a meeting and is asking us to be present and help resolve those issues.
South Africa has not let you down. South Africa has not let Africa down. We have strong relationships with German Technical Co-operation, GTZ, and other European Union, EU, development institutions. They are helping us with skills development, capacity-building and also the development of a toolkit for sport as a catalyst for development and peace, as well as skills management.
Our co-operation with the Tourism department is getting stronger. It is also spurred on by our successes and the challenges of having to facilitate the hosting of mega events. I know that we had tendered to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup and lost, but there are a myriad others who want to bring their international competitions here. This is a big boost for our tourism and the community, to the extent that we have worked out a co-operation protocol with the Department of Tourism.
These successes have not gone unnoticed in the world. The United Nations, UN, the International Olympic Committee, IOC, the World Antidoping Agency, Wada, and a whole range of sporting federations see South Africa as a preferred host of mega events. For the first time the IOC will have its general assembly on the African continent. It will be in eThekwini in 2011.
Wada is also negotiating with us. Iyasifilisha [It acknowledges our potential] to be hosts of their world conference. If we agree, it will bring to South Africa all the representatives of sports movements, from the Olympic to the non-Olympic sporting organisations, and of all the governments of the world, because Wada is also a body of all the governments of the world.
Of course, South Africa has always had to work within the African collective. We are pleased with our role and we are pleased with the solidification of the African agenda. The AU considers South Africa a leading country on policy development and the integration of sport structures and policies, also of policy issues regarding gender and people with disabilities.
We also rely on our local partners. Sport is alive and well in this country, as we saw with the successes of our athletes in Berlin last August, as well as the successes of our individual athletes and our group sports in different tournaments of the world.
As early as 1990, the sports movement realised that the fiscus would not be able to meet all the developmental needs of South Africa. Even then we knew that sport and recreation would be a stepchild in the hierarchy of needs and allocations. For this reason, we started the process to lobby for the establishment of a national lottery to assist the fiscus in funding the needs of sport. We somehow lost any say in these matters. I don't know exactly what happened. I think we took our collective eye off the ball and the dividends of the national lotteries do not accurately or in a co- ordinated manner contribute to the national agenda of reconstruction and development.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though. The new Minister of Trade and Industry and the new Chairperson of the National Lotteries Board seem to understand where we want to go. We want to continue engaging them. We must support them as they try to bring the Lotteries Act onto the right track. The bottom line for us is that section 25 of that Act must be amended. We can't have sports funds that are managed and remote-controlled by some entity that has no appetite for sport. Trade and Industry is not a sports Ministry. It does not do sport; it does not know sport; it does not have a passion for sport. This is God's truth. So we think that the money that is accruing for sporting activities must be in the hands of the sports persons themselves. [Applause.] We also believe that Cabinet must still revisit the old decision vis--vis the consolidated municipal infrastructure grant, MIG. The record of infrastructure delivery since the advent of the MIG speaks for itself. We are not willing to give up this fight, even if it makes us a lot of enemies. We are willing to listen to compelling arguments that help us build the much-needed facilities. Failure here only entrenches in our communities the legacy of the Group Areas Act as well as the Separate Amenities Act. Failure is not an option. [Interjections.]