Modulasetilo, Maloko a a tlotlegang a Palamente, dumelang. E re ke tshwaele ka gore komiti ya rona ya metshameko ya Palamente ya Rephapoliki ya Aforika Borwa, ntle le rre Dhlamini wa IFP le rre McGluwa wa ID, komiti ya rona ga e a felelela, ka moo re rata go ba leboga; ra re bontsi bo bolaya noga. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)
[Mrs G K TSEKE: I convey my greetings to the Chairperson and hon Members of Parliament. May the House take note that the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation of Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is not complete yet, we have the absence of Mr Dhlamini of the IFP and Mr Mc Gluwa of the ID. However, we would like to thank them in absentia; because we believe that two heads are better than one.]
It is a great honour for me to be part of this debate on the passing of the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Bill. Today Africa is a continent under reconstruction. Our valued sportspeople in our country and abroad, as they travel, see a lot of exciting work in progress in many sectors of our society to give meaning to our humanity together with the nations of the world.
The ANC's efforts to build a national democratic society are significant and meaningful to Africans, particularly with regard to the need to respect the dignity of all human beings and embrace the universal values of ubuntu, compassion and human solidarity.
It is in this context that the Bill seeks to fit in, because the experience of human savagery directed against us in the past is deeply embedded in our collective memory. South Africa has entered into a second decade of freedom with the strengthening of democracy and acceleration of the programme to improve the quality of life of all the people through sports.
Steadily the dark night of white political minority domination is receding into distant memory. I am raising this because we all know that today the South African nation is a product of many streams of history and culture representing the origins, dispersal and reintegration of humanity over hundreds of thousands of years.
The Freedom Charter says the people shall govern, and based on the submissions made by the people of our country, yes, we are convinced that this is the government of the people by the people. [Applause.]
During the public hearings held in Gauteng, a submission was made by Mr Erasmus, who works in the disaster management department in Gauteng, who was on duty during the Ellis Park disaster on 11 April 2001, as indicated by my colleagues. He indicated that there was no one in the venue operations centre who could take the lead in giving clear instructions to the people.
Cars were parked haphazardly, blocking the way of emergency vehicles. No one was there to assist even people with disabilities at the exit points. It was just a complete disaster.
He therefore requested that the Bill be beefed up, particularly with regard to modern equipment, access control to venue operations centres, role- players who are able to take up their responsibilities and members who remain in the venue operations centre throughout.
The Bill indicates that a controlling body or an event organiser must put in place measures to ensure the physical safety and security of our people and their property. An event organiser must co-operate and work together with the event safety and security planning community and venue operations centre commander in executing their tasks.
The Bill requires the event organiser to submit, at least six months before the start of the calendar year for that specific sport, religious or cultural activity or season, in the case of seasonal sport, an annual schedule of events with the prescribed information and sufficient particulars of the planned event - like the Super 14 or Premier Soccer League - to the national commissioner. He is then expected to make a categorisation of the safety and security risks associated with each event contained in the schedule.
Where an event cannot, by virtue of anything of an unforeseen nature, be planned to fall within the schedule of events and is scheduled to take place within six months before the start of a calendar year, the event organiser must, upon initiating plans for that event, submit details for that event to the national commissioner to make a provisional risk categorisation.
In making a risk categorisation, the national commissioner must take into account the popularity of the teams that will be playing, the expected attendance, any historic record of attendance at similar events, the certified safe capacity of a stadium, any historic record of safety and security, any threat analysis information regarding the event and any other factor that the national commissioner considers appropriate.
Upon making risk categorisations, the national commissioner must give a written notification to the hosting local municipality and he must also designate, in writing, a police official suitably qualified with experience in event policing matters as an authorised member, who will also be the venue operations centre commander and the chairperson of the event safety and security planning committee for each event categorised as medium or high risk.
In addition to the authorised member, the event safety and security planning committee must consist of disaster management departments, emergency service providers, security services of the state, health and medical service providers and others.
Ka nako ya metshameko, balaodi ba ditediamo ba tshwanetse go dira kopo ya go nt?hafatsa tiriso ya ditediamo tsa bona mo ntlheng ya tshireletso go bo Mmasepala. Nt?hafatso e, e tshwanetse go diriwa ngwaga le ngwaga kgotsa pele ga malatsi a le 30 letsatsi la nt?hafatso le ise le fete.
Ditifikeiti di tshwanetse go nna le tumelelo ya boemo ba tiriso ya mabala e e kgotsofatsang tshireletso. Sekao, Mbombela Stadium, Mpumalanga, e tshwanetse go bontsha palo ya 43 000 e e tsayang babogedi, eseng go feta. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[During the staging of soccer matches, the stadia management have to apply for the renewal of a stadium's safety and security certificate from the municipality. This renewal application should be done annually or 30 days before the existing safety certificate expires.
The certificates should entail an agreement of a satisfactory state of safety and security. For example, Mbombela Stadium, Mpumalanga, should host a capacity crowd of 43 000 spectators, as that is the number it takes, not more than that.]
The venue operations centre at an event is where the entire safety and security operations at the stadium are co-ordinated. Let me assure you, all the stadiums have complied. The venue operations centre commander must ensure that a written contingency and operational plan is prepared by the event safety and security committee, which must also determine which key role-players amongst all the service providers should staff the centre for the duration of the event.
In conclusion, I believe this Bill will ensure compliance by all the stakeholders in this regard. Thank you.